I had to take those designs out of my CafePress store because using the word MINI violates BMW's guidelines.

 

WTF! They can't possibly own the word "MINI". Can they? I guess we can't use MINI skirts, or Mac MINI, or MINI muffins, or MINI disc, or MINI series without permission from BMW.

 

I think it's "MINI," used with a sans serif font and in all upper-case. Here is part of the notice I received:

In accordance with our Intellectual Property Rights Policy, John G. Froemming on behalf of the BMW Group provided us with a notice stating that your use of the BMW “Roundel” logo, “BMW” word mark, M-Stripes logo, M-Stripes logo and design, MPOWER word mark, M3 word mark, M5 word mark, 335 word mark, Z3 word mark, MINI word mark, MINI Wings logo and design, MINI COOPER word mark, ROLLS-ROYCE word mark and/or SILVER GHOST word mark (collectively “BMW Group marks”) infringes upon their intellectual property rights (trademark).

 

Soooo....What does this mean for the rest of us?

 

I'm just pointing it out in case it's something Ed has to consider it when making badges. Those designs are from COOPERation (EMT and Firefighter) and I'm sure he doesn't mind people using them. But it seems like MINI is cracking down on their trademark. They made Pedro at Motoringfun.com change his logo design because it said MINI too.

Not trying to rain on the parade here. Just informing you that MINI has been cracking down.

 

I'm guessing it's going to be worse for those folks who might feasibly make a profit off of anything with the MINI logo.... Not so much for our custom badges, i'd hope...

 

Yeah, that's why I was saying it might be something Ed has to consider. Although looking at his site just now I see he uses MINI, Cooper and the MINI wings logo on some of his graphics. So maybe he has permission.

 

The term "word mark" is a complete pile of legal BS.

I don't want to get off topic, however, it's crazy to think anyone can own a word in the English dictionary. If they are talking about the word treated as a specific graphic element (i.e. font style, letter spacing, etc) or in the context of the automotive industry, I can understand.

But to say "In the United States the term word mark may not only refer to the graphical representation, but the text itself may be a type of trademark." is completely insane. IMO. Am I just misunderstanding this?

 

Does anyone else think the Cooper Flags Save the Wave badge looks a lot like one I entered in the badge design contest a while back?:

http://www.cooperflags.com/ProductDetail.cfm?ID=209

Mine:

 

IMO, not really. Other than sharing the same concept and basic elements, the design is completely different.



As for the "Concept" of "Save The Wave" goes. Vette and Bug drivers have always used the term:

 

bit of a rant.

I should of learned my lesson from the experiences of customers who bought badges from miniswag. I ordered my badge on 7/29 and have yet to receive it. From my understanding is they are located in Socal so at most it should take 4 days for it to get to me. My frustration lays in the fact that I have sent a couple of emails and have not received a reply. Just reply guys thats all I want....oh and my badge ofcourse.

Rant over!

 

Chris, I wish you would have asked me first. That dude actually shut down for awhile - if not, for good. IMO. He should have pulled his site instead of continuing to take orders. LAME.

BTW, if you want to rant any more, here's a thread dedicated to that.

 

Here is the start to my collection.

 

Pretty impressive, Mark!

 

I could go on a very big rant about them but just so you know never order anything from them ever again.

I like the new badges that Cooper Flags has in the Classic section but I don't have a Cooper :(

 

Well I had a great badge day at our local meeting:

- I met Mark Wedge and got some cool UT badges from him. Thanks!! He had more of his cool badges, but I didn't want to be too greedy. LOL!
- I hung out with Ed Bowers of Cooper Flags and go to see some of his latest badges, up close.
- I met up with Melinda (T8rChick) and got one of her Kiestwood Coopers badges.

Also:
- I met a bunch of new MINI people.
- I got some 'left over' club shirts for next to nothing.
- I got a COOL MTTS 2008 poster from my friend Sue.
and
- I won the local "Biggest Loser" contest (dropped only 14 lbs, but everybody else dropped out).

 

Sounds like you had a great day! Congrats on the biggest loser, by the way.

 

Thanks!

Check out the spread on this table, BTW:



That was more tempting than the cheesecake.


Here's a pic of some other badge nuts:

 

Wow, looks like a great day with some great company !

Is that uglypug beer ?

 

No. That's the restaurant's own IPA (I think they call it "Red") - not too bad.

I have had the Ugly Pug and I have to say (and I'm not a dark lager drinker - I'm an IPA guy) it was really, really good. I'll be getting more the next time I'm at the store.

 

I got a stop sign to put all my grill badges on now. LOL (no I didn't steal the stop sign)

 

Nice! Let's see some pics.

 

Here's my stop sign:


Now I have to find a place to put it

 

That is a really nice collection .

 

Here are the badges that I've picked up from the badge trading thread.