As more details are revealed about the spat between Green Shift Inc. and the Liberal Party of Canada regarding the latter's use of the term 'green shift', one has to wonder about the roles of the various players and the benefits which the owners of GSI think would accrue to them by pushing the matter further.
Now we learn that GSI owner, Jennifer Wright, intends to file suit against the LPC for $8.7 million.
While Wright denies any Conservative party offer to help with the legal bills, she has admitted to there having been "a bunch of [conservatives] emailing saying they want to give us money."
And there's more.
Green Shift has retained a former Progressive Conservative communications guru from the days of Brian Mulroney, Michael Krauss, to orchestrate her media strategy for the costly legal action.
But Krauss says he met Wright through mutual friends, and is not affiliated with the Harper government or the Conservative party.
The first word of Wright's lawsuit surfaced June 23 on the Conservative blog A Step To The Right, when an unidentified Tory blogger said he telephoned Green Shift that day to ask if the firm had formed a partnership with the Liberals.
The blogger said Green Shift intended to deliver a "cease and desist" letter to the Liberal party and added: "My instinct tells me there is also a very strong possibility of a lawsuit, one (in) which the Liberal Party would be unable to defend its use of a copyrighted item."
...Wright told a news conference she wants to ensure Green Shift is not tainted by partisan politics because of the Liberal plan.
Wright's protest that the Liberal use of "green shift" would confuse or alienate her customers doesn't mesh, given the hay-making which her suit will produce in the Conservative camp. In fact, Wright's latest move ensures that her company's image will be used politically, to disadvantage one political party and advantage another.
Wright said her firm has supplied both Ontario provincial Liberal and federal Liberal events with biodegradable cups and luncheon ware, and that she also allowed the Ontario NDP to use the slogan in the past provincial election campaign.
The legal notice filed by Wright's counsel, trademark lawyers Christine Pallotta and Joshua Spicer in Toronto, claims $8.5 million in damages for "passing off" Wright's trademark and $250,000 in aggravated and punitive damages.
It also asks for a court order that the Liberals destroy or remove "in an environmentally conscious manner" all paper and electronic documents it has containing the Green shift name.
Wright said her Green Shift trademark has been approved by the Canadian Trademark Office, but is stilling pending final registration.
The biodegradable catering ware Green Shift distributes appears to be ecologically sound, but it is expensive, possibly because of its origin.
A food-service executive who buys Green Shift biodegradable cups, utensils, plates and napkins says a container of the spoons costs $70, compared with $15 for plastic spoons.
The executive, who did not want to be identified, said the products are made with sugar cane and other fibres and are manufactured in China.
Suit aside, let it be noted that "ecologically-sound" and "biodegradable" does not equate with environmentally friendly. It takes a lot of carbon-based fuel for product to travel from China to Canada.
7 comments:
She's a known NDP supporter as well.
Have you seen greenshift.com? She says she considered suing them, but that suit would be too expensive.
But suing the Liberals would not be?
Trademarks, whether registered or "in process" do not absolutely protect the trademark holder. The onus is on the holder to prove that business was damaged and that the defendant is in the same marketplace.
This isn't just an issue over trademark law. People should not have to get permission to string some words together to describe a public policy just because someone "owns" those words in an unrelated context.
The our Charter, section 2b.
What I find particularly rich is her claim that her business website is now completely lost when you Google it, and all you get is stuff about the Liberal plan.
Go ahead. Google 'green shift'.
This whole thing sounds so manufactured, and what the US coined as "swift boating". Dig up something nebulous and milk it for what it's worth to do political damage.
Good points about how "green" Ms. Wright's business is when she is off-shoring production to China. The other thing that I caught elsewhere (Red Tory?) is that one of her clients is anti-union food and sanitation multinational giant Sodexho.
Finally, the case itself is bogus. Her line of business is not adversely affected by a policy sharing a name that has been used by lots of other entities well before she started her business.
this looks to me like an intentional Streisand effect
Whooee! You gotta love guerrilla marketers. I don't see how she can win her lawsuit. I doubt she ever thought she would. A PR opportunity like this shouldn't be wasted.
She ain't doin' the greatest job with what she's been handed but she’s gonna end up with more customers than before.
Green Question: Why travel (with entorage) all the way from Toronto to Ottawa to hand deliver the papers?
That sure as hell ain't the green way of delivering a handful of papers.
Then again, she wouldn't have a gaggle of reporters and TV crews coverin' it if she sent the docs by courier or by registered mail. Being in Ottawa probably helped with turnout at her press conference.
I feel green guilt if I drive 5 km unnecessarily.
Toronto to Ottawa = 353 Km
JB
Was perusing other blog posts on this topic and found this suggestion to the Liberals from "Dave":
"Just make it 'Shift into Green' instead. Then you don’t lose ALL of the previous ’shift green’ mojo that you’ve built up, and you can relate it to the auto industry in advertisements, or to shifting gears, etc, etc.
"You can also slowly fade from one to the other quite easily."
While Wright's actions are suspect - evidence suggests she's either credulous or being manipulated by apparatchiks of the Cons (and NDP?) -, I think Dave's idea is worth thinking about. Given that most Canadians don't delve deeper than sound bytes or headlines, this could hurt the Liberals regardless of the nonsense it is.
"Shift into GREEN" is a brilliant suggestion. Dave should work for a branding/advertising firm. Excellent solution. (I'm not even a fan of the policy but I hate US-styled political shenanigans even more.)
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