Vivid: HTC Smartphone or Adult Entertainment Company?
Vivid: HTC Smartphone or Adult Entertainment Company?
Posted 11/16/2011 at 12:58pm
| by Paul Lilly
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Vivid is the name of an HTC smartphone recently introduced on AT&T's wireless cellular network. It's also the name of a porn company. That's a problem. Vivid Entertainment (the adult movie maker) sent out a cease and desist letter to HTC on the basis that the Vivid name infringes it's trademark. Turns out nobody likes to be violated by a smartphone, not even a porn company.
TMZ first broke the story and said the letter gives HTC until Monday to change the name of its phone or else Vivid Entertainment will escalate legal proceedings and attempt to ramrod HTC in court.
HTC confirmed with The Verge that the cease and desist letter is in fact real, so apparently this isn't an ill-conceived publicity stunt. In fact, HTC doesn't seem to want to talk much about it.
"We are reviewing the complaint and don't expect to have any further comment until it is resolved," HTC told The Verge in a statement.
Whether or not Vivid Entertainment is making a mountain out of a mole hill is probably irrelevant, giving the kind of attention this is garnering. In the end, HTC and AT&T may have screwed the pooch on this one.
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firefox91
November 16, 2011 at 9:19pm
Where some see conflict, I see opportunity. See HTC should team up and make the first phone optimized for porn streaming. Their catch phrase can be something like "This is not your dead master's iPhone." What? Too soon?
Danthrax66
November 16, 2011 at 8:05pm
Pretty sure that a trademark would only be violated if the company in question is in a similar industry.
streetking
November 17, 2011 at 3:30pm
yeah, manufacturers call the clear things they put in the sides of houses windows, and you dont see microsoft suing them for it.
gatorXXX
November 16, 2011 at 4:28pm
"In the end, HTC and AT&T may have screwed the pooch on this one."
Should have been typed as:
"HTC and AT&T may have screwed the pooch on this one, in the END!"
AntonioGarrison
November 16, 2011 at 1:50pm
This is like when Bethesda was wanting to sue for the use of the word SCROLLS. Come on.
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