Anyone know about these guys? (For BMorg legal)

SuddenDevice · Post by **SuddenDevice** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 7:36 pm

Found this today as a suggested link in my gmail box. Coulda swore people weren't supposed to be using Burning Man to sell stuff. Anyway, tried to find a link to contact the BMorg legal and it just didn't happen, so I thought I would post it here to get someone's attention. I'm not all up in arms about it or anything, but I thought I would send it the way of someone who wants to spend more than five minutes looking at it.

www.burningmangoggles.com

(and for those of you who wanna click the link anyway, it starts talking to you, so turn the sound down)

Post by **mdmf007** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:12 pm

They arent using the logo, arent referencing the site at all. I am thinking they are using the "Burningman" label as a key word for searching.

I am betting that this isnt infringment - but a nastygram from an attorney is probably going to come their way.

At a certain point in time - Burningman and its language will be used as a generic term for anything hot and dusty or burneresque.

Just like "Coke" can be used to describe any soda without being an infrigment - once a term is universally accepted to describe something it becomes closer to fair use.

my 2 cents for what its worth.

Post by **AntiM** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:09 am

No, it isn't allowed. They slam ebay sellers for using "burning man" all the time. The point is to AVOID what happened to coke and bandaid and thermos and q-tips. I'll pass it along if I can recall who gets this type of thing.

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 12:25 pm

It was passed on several days ago.

Post by **AntiM** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 1:16 pm

Good to know, thanks.

madmatt · Post by **madmatt** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 5:21 pm

They have some really cool stuff though!!!

Perfect for the man who needs to buy goggles for burning man and also buy a lexan podium for his Megachurch's camp at burning man....

Otisserie · Post by **Otisserie** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 7:19 pm

madmatt wrote:They have some really cool stuff though!!!

Perfect for the man who needs to buy goggles for burning man and also buy a lexan podium for his Megachurch's camp at burning man....

The goggles seemed pretty overpriced to me. Given the rate that I gift/lose/destroy googles on the playa I prefer to pay $8 or less, not $16-$20 + shipping. Two years ago I got a bunch for $3 each. That was a deal!

As for the trademark, using Burningman in the domain name is going to cause problems. If I had a store with the domain "MickeyMouseClothes.com" you can bet I'd be hearing from the Disney corp. The rules are different for non-commercial uses: you could have a domain like BurningmanSux.com if you just wanted to express your opinion of the man.

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 7:29 pm

It's the same junk you can get on Ebay for less, then after a day on the playa say to yourself "Why did I buy this piece of crap?"

Vintage military and lab goggles are the way to go... those suckers were made to be worn all day, every day.

SuddenDevice · Post by **SuddenDevice** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:03 pm

<i>It was passed on several days ago.</i>
Thanks for the heads up, Badger.