September 30, 2014

Lawyers Agree on How to Handle DUI Stops, Disagree on Trademarks

by Guest Blogger


Donotblow Billboard
- Do not perform any roadside tests.

This includes walking a line, testing your eyes, and most importantly, DON'T BLOW in any breath-testing unit.

This is advice from Texas DUI lawyer Mark Hull on his website, dontblow.com. Fellow Texas lawyer, Tyler Flood, agrees with Mr. Hull's admonition against taking a breathalyzer. So much so, in fact, that he owns the federally registered trademark and domain name, donotblow.com. He has also sued Mr. Hull's law firm for infringing the trademark.

There's no arguing that "dontblow.com" and "donotblow.com" are pretty similar and are used to sell the same services. So, Mr. Hull may have an uphill battle in keeping his name. It's a shame, because I bet he spent a lot of money on his dontblow.com drunk driving iPhone app, which features a Blood Alcohol Calculator and Stability Test:

Dontblow App

Of course, we don't give DUI advice here (although, dontdrinkanddriveinthefirstplace.com is a pretty good domain name). We do, however, have some advice for Mr. Hull: Don't blow your next opportunity to come up with a distinctive trademark.

The lawyers at Trademarkology provide trademark registration services backed by the experience and service of one of the nation's oldest law firms. Click here to begin the process of protecting your brand name with a federally registered trademark.