Toyota threatens to sue Jetstar over jump in ad!
A report in The Age says that car maker Toyota is considering suing Jetstar because the budget Australian airline has used what Toyota claims to be a Toyota-style “jump” in an advertising campaign.
Not everyone has the right to jump for joy after Toyota trademarked its “Oh, what a feeling” jump and two-bar jingle.
Toyota spokesman Peter Evans told The Sunday Age: “Someone has executed a jump that’s not dissimilar to ours and it would be remiss of us to ensure that our brand isn’t properly protected.”
Although it seems bizarre that a body movement can be “owned”, legal experts say companies are claiming copyright on everything from colours to smells after the Federal Government expanded the legislation in 1996.
In New Zealand, and arguably in Australia, businesses can even trademark the taste of their products.
“Companies are becoming more aware of what they can trademark. It’s worth money,” said Russell Waters, a trademark specialist and partner in Melbourne legal firm Phillips Ormonde & Fitzpatrick.
While companies such as Kraft and jewellery maker Tiffany have registered silver and blue, respectively, others such as Cadbury and Darrell Lea, and oil giant BP and Woolworths, are in the midst of costly legal action over which company owns purple and green respectively.
Mr Waters said that if Toyota was successful, the case would set a precedent for just how far the new laws expand the boundaries of what companies can own.
Mr Evans said Toyota’s legal department was examining Jetstar’s recent advertising campaign to determine whether the jump breached the global car maker’s trademark.
“Our media budget is reasonably large so we would be silly not to make sure that that investment is not maximised,” he said.
While the dollar value of any jump is hard to ascertain, it was alluded to when Sydney newspapers carried headlines and photographs of a jumping NSW premier John Fahey exclaiming “Oh, what a feeling” upon hearing that the harbour city had won the 2000 Olympics.
“You can’t buy publicity like that,” Mr Evans said.
“The jump is an absolute branding device.” “As custodians of our brand it’s beholden on us to make sure that they (Jetstar) are not misrepresenting us in any way.”
“It is up to our legal guys to determine if there is any legal recourse we should take.”
“It’s just a question of whether their jump is too close to ours … we are certainly looking at it.”
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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