Is Best Buy a Trademark Bully?

It seems Best Buy believes they own the rights to the word “geek”. According to “Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called” by Miguel Bustillo of WSJ.com, Best Buy has sought legal actions against many businesses who use any aspect of the “geek squad” brand including the car, the colors, and/or the name. Best Buy inadvertently gave attention to their legal fiasco when they attempted to stop Newegg.com’s recent advertisement.

According to the article, Newegg’s current commercial takes a not-so-subtle shot at competitor Best Buy:

“The spot, which aired on cable television and the Web, shows a clueless blue-shirted store salesman stammering and shrugging when a customer asks him to explain the difference between two laptops. It then touts Newegg as a website where shoppers can read reviews from fellow customers who actually know what they are talking about, and flashes the slogan, 'Take it from a Geek'."

This is very typical of commercials in competitive markets, but Best Buy’s response was to sue over the use of the word “geek” and included a cease-and-desist letter stating “[Newegg’s] Geek On advertising slogan sounded too similar to Best Buy’s…Geek squad”. Newegg posted this letter on their Facebook and it sparked backlash against Best Buy over the attempt to own the word “geek”. And then there is the article stating Best Buy “has disputed more than a dozen geek-themed trademarks in the past decade… including Rent a Geek, Geek Rescue and Speak With a Geek.”

Examples in the article:

The “God Squad” of Wisconsin, a group of priests, attacked because they drove a Beetle and had a logo similar to the Geek squad. “Best Buy says the dispute was resolved amicably after the company offered to remove the logo from the priest’s car and pay his legal fees”.

Dave Ehike has a business called Geek Housecalls. They were sued for using the word “Geek” in 2004. Ehike won but “It cost us a lot of money to defend it, a lot for a small company”.

The NBC show “Chuck” wanted to use the Geek Squad as the job of the main character and Best Buys said no.  “The character wound up working for a ‘Nerd Herd’ tech-support service and retailer ‘Burbank Buy More’”

Not only has the Newegg fiasco drawn light to Best Buy’s claim to “geek” but also created a “Streisand Effect”(you can click the term for more info) to Newegg’s commercial. The article states the commercial had little airtime but now has more than 550,000 views on YouTube.

Let’s see if I can keep my opinion simple and short. Best Buy does not own the word “geek”. As proven by the examples, they own the logo but not the word. To think Best Buy could take claim to a term that’s been around for a long time is ridiculous. When they sue small companies, they come off as bullies considering they have the resources to pursue frivolous lawsuits and small companies would probably run out funds before being able to make a proper defense. When they try legal action against Newegg, it has backfired. Now, Best Buy is getting all the attention they want and adding to Newegg’s notoriety in their fight against the company. And why did they not allow NBC to use their logo? I’m do not work in advertising and I’m pretty sure product placement is very complicated but Chuck is a “nerdy” show and would have worked incredibly well with the “geek Squad” brand. In the end, Best Buy may have a legal stance but they have to intelligently pick their battles and trying to own “geek” is not the battle to fight.