I, for one, welcome our new ant farm overlords

Turns out that the good people at Uncle Milton Industries, Inc. didn't look too kindly on our gross misuse of the phrase "ant farm" on yesterday's post about the Antquarium. Apparently they own the trademark on "ant farm", and are requesting we stop using it in relation to anything except Uncle Milton products. Here's their missive, with names redacted, in full:

Name: Steve XXXXXX
URL: www.unclemilton.com
Subject: "Ant Farm" trademark usage
Hello there,
Our company, Uncle Milton Industries, Inc. is the owner of the registered trademark, "Ant Farm(R)" for our brand of ant habitat products. The phrase is not generic. We note the use of our trademark to describe a competitor's product in your website page noted above, as well as in the "Antquarium" page referenced on your site.
We request that you delete the phrase "ant farm" and substitute it with a generic phrase, such as "ant habitat."
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. A prompt reply to this request will be much appreciated.

We know you guys are required to send out these letters to defend the trademark, but we still won't be deleting the phrase from the post. Thanks for playing!

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 26th 2007 2:56PM]

And they aren't "Legos" but "Lego Brand Building Blocks".

Corporations can just f-off.

[slyckstyx Posted Jan 26th 2007 2:52PM]

"Ant Gadget"

[feralchimp Posted Jan 26th 2007 8:07PM]

Engadget isn't sticking it to the man, nor are they childishly flouting a reasonable application of trademark law.

They're doing exactly what they said they're doing: maintaining the status quo via a (decidedly un-snarky) appeal to common sense.

Meanwhile, Uncle Milton's legal eagles are apparently passing the workday exactly as you do: reading Engadget.

[Brethren Posted Jan 27th 2007 3:19PM]

The NY Times did a piece on trademark trolls back in 2005. (Like patent trolls but not smart enough to come up with technical vagaries like predictive snooping). Anyone watch the movie "Stealth"? Well this guy had trademarked stealth and a bunch of other common words and sued to get an injunction against its release (a short time before it hit theaters)until the court could rule on the trademark infringement (which could take... I don't know, when is this Cisco vs. Apple thing going to be settled?) or Sony Pictures ponied up the cash. At least to Uncle Milton's credit they actually still make an Ant Farm(TM but still Total Merde).


Reference from the NY Times archives:

MARKETING; He Says He Owns the Word 'Stealth' (Actually, He Claims 'Chutzpah,' Too)

... he owns the trademark to ''stealth. ... 'If a trademark owner doesn't go up to ... expert witness in trademark trials. Through Rentamark, ...View free preview
July 4, 2005 - By COLIN MOYNIHAN (NYT) - Business - News - 1607 words

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50D13F63A5E0C778CDDAE0894DD404482

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 30th 2007 12:19PM]

@Scott: OT, but...
"Just ask the people who created the term "Aspirin" what happens when you don't protect your trademark."

Um, what happend there is that the Allies defeated the Axis and seized all of their assets. One of which was the patent of Aspirin owned by Bayer. The Allies took both the patent rights and even the name Bayer away from the Germans (the company Bayer in the US is unrelated to the original Bayer still in Germany).

I don't think anybody plans to hang old Uncle Milt for war crimes and seize his ant holdings.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 10th 2007 7:33PM]

One of my mother's sisters had a small acreage for a while. I have fond memories of the "aunt farm".

Oops excuse me, there are sirens outside, and someone is knocking on my door rather loudly... strange.