*The Brisbane Times is reporting that Blue Star Line, the Clive Palmer company behind the plan to build Titanic II, has submitted paperwork to trademark Titanic, Titanic II, Titanic III, Blue Star Line, and Gigantic. Gigantic was included because Palmer believes it was name considered but never used by White Star. Since trademark does not convey ownership, he sees no problem with his application. Others may differ on that point. 20th Century Fox did trademark Titanic for use when Cameron’s Titanic came out but only for entertainment services, movies and motion pictures. Generally a trademark violation occurs when one party uses it in a way that reminds you of the trademark product. For instance Coca-Cola (and the word Coke) are trademarks of the Coca-Cola company. If you use either of those two to market a soft drink (or in some way to convey a connection to Coke), they can sue for trademark infringement. Cola is a generic term for flavored soda and not trademarked (except when part of a name like Pepsi Cola)
Is Palmer worried about copy-cats? That would be the only reason to trademark these particular words. Assuming this is true, he would want to prevent others from naming their ships Titanic II or III. It is possible other cruise lines out there (like Cunard, for one) see a profit potential in a Titanic replica and could have plans in that regard. There is also just a whiff that all of this might be some grand scheme of something else. What that might be I cannot say but time will tell.
Source:Brisbane Times, Clive Palmer To Trademark ‘Titanic’, ‘Gigantic’,19 Feb 2013
*The Jason Project, founded by Robert Ballard, is a non-profit partnered with National Geographic Society and Sea Reasearch Foundation, seeks to interest students in science. Many schools see this as a way to boost their science and math programs. Find more info at jason.org.
*The recent meteor that landed in Russia causing much damage reminded me of an old Arthur C. Clarke book called Rendezvous With Rama. The opening chapters of the book talked about how the need for monitoring asteroids and meteors came about when a large meteor came crashing down on Earth. Many lost their hearing due to the sonic boom, massive damage resulted from the shock wave to buildings and other things. His book is prescient on how even a small chunk of space rock can inflict a lot of damage. Imagine if it had crashed into a major city. It would look like either a small nuclear device had gone off or the city had been bombed like Dresden in World War II.
*I realize pizza chains seek to draw in customers with new formulations. Papa John’s sent out an advert offering a deal on its—gasp—steak and cheese pizza. According to their website, this pizza has steak, mozzarella cheese, and a creamy garlic parmesan and pizza sauce with an Italian herb seasoning. Those famous Philly steak places are probably laughing while the old traditional pizzerias in New York are just shaking their heads at this. One wonders what is next. Perhaps kung pao chicken pizza?
*You know things are not doing well in the economy when local shops offer “Titanic bargains” just before they go out of business.
