National American University, a leader in adult education, is gearing up for a legal battle royale against Naughty American University, a leader in adult entertainment.
According to a story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, National American is suing Naughty American for trademark violations and cyber piracy for using the name Naughty American University and "NAU."
Diorah, Inc., the organization that operates National American, filed the suit in federal court in Rapid City, South Dakota, where they're located. La Touraine, Inc., the defendant, is registered in Nevada, but has a San Diego business address.
Diorah wants to stop Naughty American to stop using the school's trademark, and is seeking financial damages. Or at least a date with a couple of the models.
According to the lawsuit, National American has spent millions of dollars promoting its name. But La Touraine registered its domain name and started offering its educational content.
Diorah says both names are "nearly identical in sight, sound and commercial impression" to National American University and the NAU abbreviation.
The funniest part of the whole article:
While I understand Diorah's concern, I don't see how this is going to cause confusion for anyone. A general rule of thumb is if you go to your college's website, but you see a bunch of naked women doing God knows what, you're probably at the wrong website. Google the correct address and try again.
Although I'm sure a lot of prospective male students will end up spending hours supposedly trying to figure out how to download the financial aid forms.
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According to a story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, National American is suing Naughty American for trademark violations and cyber piracy for using the name Naughty American University and "NAU."
Diorah, Inc., the organization that operates National American, filed the suit in federal court in Rapid City, South Dakota, where they're located. La Touraine, Inc., the defendant, is registered in Nevada, but has a San Diego business address.
Diorah wants to stop Naughty American to stop using the school's trademark, and is seeking financial damages. Or at least a date with a couple of the models.
According to the lawsuit, National American has spent millions of dollars promoting its name. But La Touraine registered its domain name and started offering its educational content.
Diorah says both names are "nearly identical in sight, sound and commercial impression" to National American University and the NAU abbreviation.
The funniest part of the whole article:
Besides making money off the names, La Touraine's use of them likely creates confusion among students, potential students, alumni and parents, and causes people not to seek the school's education services, it claims.Sort of makes me worried for my own alma mater, Ball State University.
"These activities are likely to cause consumer confusion and harm Plaintiff's goodwill established in its National American University and NAU trademarks," it states.
While I understand Diorah's concern, I don't see how this is going to cause confusion for anyone. A general rule of thumb is if you go to your college's website, but you see a bunch of naked women doing God knows what, you're probably at the wrong website. Google the correct address and try again.
Although I'm sure a lot of prospective male students will end up spending hours supposedly trying to figure out how to download the financial aid forms.
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