By Cameron Ibrahim
Staff Writer
Best Buy’s Geek Squad is well known for being a trustworthy source for technical advice, and it has inspired many other Geek Squads. This presents a problem, because the trademark is already owned by Best Buy. Earlier this year Mira Costa’s Geek Squad received a cease and desist from Best Buy, in an unfortunate example of the company’s necessary, but often controversial trademark protection.
Best Buy’s Geek Squad is a helpful source for tech support, especially among those who shop at any of the locations of the multi billion dollar corporation. However the Geek Squad has been involved in numerous incidents involving trademark infringement in the past. Mira Costa’s own Geek Squad, a club held in the library which and provides technical support to students on campus, can now be added to the list of groups and companies that have received a cease and desist letter from this tech juggernaut.
The cease and desist letter, sent to club advisor Jane Lofton, asked that the name of the club be changed so that it would not conflict with Best Buy’s registered trademark. According to Geek Squad President Matthew Rice this is an understandable action, but it seems like an overreaction to go after a school club. Mira Costa’s Geek Squad opted to change the club name to the Geeks when the yearly club forms where turned in at the beginning of the school year.
Trademarks, copyrights and patents are all types of intellectual property: a trademark generally protects a brand name or logo, a copyright protects an original literary or artistic work, while a patent protects an invention. Trademarks are registered through the United States Patent and Trademark Office, which is an agency of the Department of Commerce and determines whether or not the submitted trademark meets federal requirements. They cannot, however, go after an infringement for the company who registered for the trademark, nor can they offer legal advice on common trademark laws, potential infringement claims, or state registrations. It is therefore up to the company to go after infringements itself, which is why Lofton received a letter directly from Best Buy. Although cease and desists are generally hostile, this one was relatively mild due to the non-business nature of our schools Geek Squad. This is just a rather unfortunate example of a large company’s obligation to defend its trademark rights, even if the infringement is small and defenseless.
Registering for a trademark is a lengthy, often complicated legal process, a process which is most often handled by a specialized trademark attorney. Registering a trademark gives a company a number of rights; it is assumed that they own the image and they are now free to use it on all goods and services and allows them to declare public ownership of the mark. Companies are free to challenge the registration of a trademark if they believe that it in turn infringes their own trademark. As is the case in their recent activity against our Geek Squad, companies have to actively go after infringements, otherwise their own claims become weaker and they receive less protection from them. As such, Best Buy was obligated to take action, whether it was right or wrong morally.
It is that same non-business nature that involves the subject of trademark ethics. Many believe that non-corporate or non-official entities, such as school clubs, should be ignored in cases like this since they cannot really compete with the company. It is often seen as a case of the big man bullying the little man, though it really is a necessary evil. Best Buy’s trademark on the Geek Squad brand is commonly infringed. If they become aware of a problem, it are required to fix it, even if it is small and benign; it would have a harder time defending the trademark in the future against more serious issues occur. Without changing a significant amount of trademark policy and the very nature of the greedy corporate environment in this country, there is no way for exceptions to be made without being detrimental to the company itself.
The cease and desist letter Costa’s Geek Squad received is justifiable, though extremely unfortunate, due to the unfortunate legal process which is integral to the protections offered to companies in the US.
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