I agree completely with Harald. The international nature of the Internet necessitates that any famous mark must be recognizable globally. What percentage of the globe is necessary can be a topic for discussion.
For those of us in the States, keep in mind that unless a substantial global recognition requirement exists, U.S. companies are just a vulnerable to being excluded by marks famous in their home countries.
Eric
-----Original Message-----
From: Harald Tveit Alvestrand [mailto:Harald@alvestrand.no]
Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 1999 5:20 PM
To: Martin B. Schwimmer; ga@dnso.org
Cc: wg-b@dnso.org
Subject: [wg-b] Re: [ga] newyorkyankees.com suit
At 15:18 29.12.99 -0500, Martin B. Schwimmer wrote:
>The registrant may in fact be a Mets fan.
>
>http://www.nypost.com/business/20655.htm
>
>NEW YORK YANKEES would be an example of a unique famous mark.
Pardon?
This side of the pond, I don't even know if they play baseball, oval-ball
football or some other game.
Unique they may be, but not terribly famous outside the US.
Harald A
--
Harald Tveit Alvestrand, EDB Maxware, Norway
Harald.Alvestrand@edb.maxware.no