tablet-stained wretches

Murdoch’s The Daily Sues IMG’s The Daily, Saying Everyone Has the Right to Be Named The Daily

In legal papers filed today, News Corp. sued IMG Worldwide over the rights to use the name The Daily for their new tablet-only newspaper. IMG, which runs New York Fashion Week, prints a publication called Fashion Week Daily that comes out during those weeks and during other fashion-heavy events nationwide. That Daily also has a fashion-news website that runs year-round. IMG had tried to block News Corp. from naming their new publication The Daily, claiming they had common-law trademark rights to the name. In the court filings, News Corp. calls this “a frivolous effort to cast a legal cloud over the impending launch” of their tablet product. Preemptively, News Corp. is suing before IMG does to settle the issue, in order to avoid scaring away advertisers with an inconveniently timed court dispute. As evidence for their claim that the name The Daily is un-trademarkable, they note that 386 newspapers in America with websites use the phrase in their name and that a Google search of it turns up 900 million returns.

The Daily vs. IMG [Scribd via Robert MacMillan/Twitter]

Murdoch’s The Daily Sues IMG’s The Daily, Saying Everyone Has the Right to Be Named The Daily