Eric Menhart Rethinks Trademark Application; Internet Lawyers Still Laughing [1]

The curtain appears to be closing on a what has been a humorous episode in the annals of "cyberlaw." Ron Coleman [2] and Eric Goldman [3] report that Eric Menhart has amended his application [4] with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, which previously sought to trademark the term "CyberLaw" in connection with legal services [5]. Menhart is no longer seeking ownership of the (almost certainly generic) term "Cyberlaw" itself, opting instead for registration of his firm's stylized logo:

(The CMLP and this website are in no way affiliated with the CyberLaw firm. You can find the CyberLaw firm's website here [6]. We are using the mark for purposes of news reporting and criticism.)

Limited in this way, Menhart's application is no longer quite so ridiculous and no longer poses a threat to lawyers and scholars specializing in Internet law (not that it was ever much of a credible threat). Not content to swallow his pride and acknowledge his mistake, Menhart went out with this final swipe in a statement to the Baltimore Sun [7]:

"It was very clear that this was not going to be an academic argument, it was going to be more of a shouting match, and I didn't think it was worth my time to get involved in a shouting match with people that were going to shout louder and had more ammunition in their holsters than I had," Menhart said.

Wow. Check out that condescending tone. This self-proclaimed expert still thinks he's right (if only everyone were as "academic" as him!). Eric Goldman's retaliatory quip [3] is elegant in its snarkiness and brevity: "Funny--I would have thought it wasn't worth his time because the application was completely unmeritorious." Ron Coleman's comeback makes for the funniest title of the week -- Wile E. Coyote, Cybergenius [2].