Trademarks and Film in Real Life

Hey everyone, so this is a follow up to my article Understanding Legal Issues in Film Part 3: During Filming.  The article talked about how during filming, most filmmakers if they are not careful have issues with Trademarks.  I also talked about how some filmmakers during filming agree to place a company product in the film in order to finance a movie, known as Product Placement. So I thought I would provide some examples for you to see what I mean.   I have been wanting to write this post for a long time, but I have been waiting for a more recent Trademark case and Product Placement example to write about.

The first case talks about a film that I recently reviewed Mr. Holmes.  In the lawsuit, the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle is claiming that the film's distributors as well as the publishing company infringed on the Sherlock Holmes trademarks because even an elderly Sherlock Holmes is still a derivative work that is still in their intellectual property.  Along with an elderly Sherlock, the lawsuit sites to Sherlock's magnifying glass, pipe, and hat all fall under a Trademark infringement.  I don't know if I truly agree with this lawsuit.  For one thing, I want to know why the lawsuit is happening now, when the book that the film is based on has been on published for over 10 years.  If this was something that Arthur Conan Doyle's estate truly cared about, they could have solved this matter over a decade ago.  For more information on this lawsuit, you can read the article here.

The next film I want to talk about is the worldwide phenomenon Jurassic World.  This film is a great example of Product Placement.  Here are just a few of the many products that helped financed the film: Starbucks, Mercedes, Brookstone, and Ben & Jerry's.  Now, many people are saying that Jurassic World went way too far.  Though I may agree with some of the things that people are saying, the truth is that if we want to see films such as this one, there has to be a way to fund it.  So we can't keep complaining about it or expensive movies like these would never have the financing that it needs to be created.  For a complete list of the product placement in Jurassic World, see here.

Well I hope you enjoy.  These are just a few of the examples that I could find regarding Trademarks and Product Placement in film.  What I want to emphasize is that 1) make sure that you do your research before you add something to a film in case there is a registered Trademark; and 2) Product Placement can be a great way to finance a movie, but too much product placement can cause problems as well.

Thanks again for reading!!!  If you have any questions, comments or ideas just let me know!!!