In an example of corporate bullying and one of the more frivolous threats filed by a corporation, Texas energy giant TXU is threatening an environmental group, Downwinders at Risk, alleging trademark dilution.
TXU's First Amendment Pollution
My colleague who is also President of the Board of
First Amendment Project, Clinton Fein, blogs on their site about TXU's threat to
Downwinders at Risk's use of the TXU logo, along with the logos of other pollution-causing corporations, on a float depicting Gov. Rick Perry kissing a dirty smokestack. The float was part of a protest to represent the close political and financial relationship between the governor's office and the energy industry.
TXU's First Amendment Pollution
My gut feeling is that TXU, David Poole and Kim Morgan have already done more than enough damage to TXU's brand and they'll slink away with their smoky tail between their legs rather than continue on this ridiculous path.
Surely their money would be better spent on Rick Perry's campaign than fighting a small environmental group, bringing all this attention to their bullying, frivolous campaign to silence their critics, and creating a whole new breed of critics in the process. (Cough, cough...)