Marilyn’s famous spoken line from ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’ - Talk to me, Harry Winston, tell me all about it - was cited in a recent court judgement regarding the famous American jeweler’s brand name, reports IDEX Online.
“Harry Winston Inc. has won a long-running trademark dispute involving the son of the company’s founder over marks used to market gems and fine jewelry after an administrative panel ruled that using the son’s name, Bruce Winston, to promote rival goods would confuse customers.
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board denied Bruce Winston Gem Corp.’s bid to register the mark ‘Bruce Winston’ for bracelets, gemstones, earrings and other fine jewelry and rejected the company’s counterclaims seeking to cancel Harry Winston’s trademarks, Law360 reported.
The 71-page ruling is the latest decision in a battle over the Winston marks going back more than a decade. Bruce Winston filed an application to register his name as a trademark for use on jewelry in 2001, the year before his company was formed, according to the ruling.
The decision examines the history of Harry Winston and his jewelry store and analyzes the popularity of the company’s brand. In assessing the strength of the company’s marks, the TTAB described Winston as a ‘skilled promoter’ and said it was clear that the ‘Winston’ mark is ‘very well known in the jewelry industry.’
In support of its finding, the TTAB cited the song ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’ which appeared in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes starring actress Marilyn Monroe. During the song, Monroe sings, ‘Talk to me, Harry Winston, tell me all about it,’ a line that the company has used in promotional material in the decades since the song was released, the ruling said.”
