“Tea Party” Activists Seek Government Help re Trademarks

Protesters at the Philadelphia Tea Party on April 18, 2009

This is just too delicious: One group of “Tea Party” activists – known for opposing federal government intrusiveness – has brought suit against the registered Tea Party political party in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida (South Florida Tea Party, Inc. v. Tea Party).

Plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment that (1) their use of “Tea Party” does not infringe any trademark or other intellectual property right, (2) Defendants to not have any exclusive intellectual property right to use “Tea Party” in politics, and (3) Defendants shall not make any false associations between themselves and grass roots “Tea Party” movements. (The third point seems to be more like a request for injunctive relief rather than a declaratory judgment, but intellectual rigor and consistency may not be major concerns, in this case.)

Perhaps plaintiffs did not notice that the U.S. District Court is part of the despised federal government?

Photo credit: Wikipedia

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