Duck voices could not be appropriated: the sounds of nature were left without an owner
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An unusual application was filed by a company of scarecrows in Rospatent
A company from St. Petersburg, which manufactures stuffed animals and other handicrafts from skins, feathers, horns and hooves, failed to secure the right to exclusive use of the recording of bird voices.
As it became known to MK, taxidermists applied to Rospatent with an application for the registration of a trademark and a protection mark, which is a sound signal with a recording of bird voices with the name “Sounds of a bird of a hunting species – quacking of a duck, mallard, drake” and an image of the logo of these sounds. The organization refused to comment on the strange desire to have the rights to the duck voice. Recently, a message was published on the state registration of a trademark, but, unfortunately for scarecrows, only the logo became the subject of protection. Bird voices, although included in the patent, did not become the exclusive property of taxidermists.
As patent attorney Kirill Obedin explained, sounds can indeed be trademarks, for example, the melody of a mobile phone’s branded ringtone. Theoretically, the cry of a wild bird could also become a trademark if this sound is used, for example, as a doorbell. In the case of the “bird sounds” patent, we are dealing with a disclaimer, that is, a situation where some element is included in the trademark as unprotected. The use by other persons of such an element separately from the registered trademark is not recognized as a violation of the exclusive right of the copyright holder to his trademark. In other words, ducks can safely quack without fear of criminal prosecution by taxidermists.
Newspaper headline:
Duck cry left unguarded
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