For That Much You’d Think They’d Want To Capitalize It
In other news, HBO seems a little overprotective of three seemingly common words used in a particular order:
She’s sexy and calls her business “Health and the City,” but a martial-arts trainer who works to turn stressed-out New Yorkers into urban warriors is ready to take on Goliath to prove she’s no Carrie Bradshaw wan nabe.
When Jennifer Cassetta found her calling coaching urbanites on fitness and nutrition — and came up with a catchy Web domain to match last year — she had no idea she’d be facing more agita than her average client in the form a trademark battle with HBO.
Cassetta, 31, said she was shocked to learn the entertainment giant had thrown down the gauntlet in June, accusing her of trying to ride the coattails of the wildly popular show “Sex and the City.”
“I’m not selling whatever they sell. I’m not doing a movie about sex and Carrie Bradshaw,” Cassetta told The Post yesterday as she braces for HBO’s Nov. 18 deadline to file its formal opposition to her trademark application.
“I thought it was a catchy phrase, with the main theme of what I’m trying to do. My clients know that. They have a hard time staying healthy in the city,” Cassetta said.
. . .
In an effort to avoid an expensive legal battle, Cassetta said she entered discussions with an HBO lawyer who gave her two options — change the name to “Health in the City” or withdraw her application for the trademark altogether.
“I asked, ‘Why would I do that?’ I’m supposed to roll over and die because I’m afraid of HBO?” said Cassetta, who has already paid $484 for the trademark-application fee and explained that the alternate name already is owned and could cost her more than $10,000.
. . .
HBO routinely challenges trademark applications that contain the words “and the city.”
Thus began a new game along the lines of adding “in bed” to fortune cookies (see, for example) where “and the city” is added to the end of everything; the new name for this post — “For That Much You’d Think They’d Want To Capitalize It . . . And The City”
Posted: November 15th, 2007 | Filed under: Follow The Money