This is a rather unusual confrontation. Adult entertainment giant Pornhub is suing a small kebab restaurant in New York’s East Village neighborhood. But what can Pornhub blame this restaurant for?
If the conflict broke out, it was because the site Pornhub (actually its parent company, MindGeek) accused Döner Haus, the restaurant in question, of trademark infringement. The dispute is really unexpected, and one wonders why the theme of intellectual property can emerge in the context of a legal dispute between the two companies.
A logo that could be confusing
Apple is not the only one to monitor the slightest “copy” of its brand. According to MindGeek’s accusations, the logo of the kebab sign looks too much like the well-known logo of the Pornhub site. In a letter to the restaurant, the company claimed that the Döner Haus logo could mislead premium Pornhub customers about the restaurant’s offering.
Faced with the absurdity of this accusation, the owners of the restaurant firmly rejected the allegations of confusion between the two signs. They justify themselves by explaining that their restaurant simply offers ” a healthy culinary experience and delicious dishes in a family atmosphere “. A description that cannot be a priori not attach to the largest porn site in the world.
Further confusion arises in this case: Pornhub offers a special category of adult videos by the name of ” Doner Haus Porn Videos “. The name of the restaurant contains an “ö” (“umlaut” in German), while the name of the category is satisfied with a simple “o”. If this is not the height of absurdity, we are not far from it.
A confusing dispute
If the case may seem trivial, it is still possible to ask some questions about it. What’s the real point of a company the size of MindGeek attacking a restaurant that’s obviously not a competitor? Should trademark protection apply when it comes to such different industries?
One wonders what MindGeek is really playing by claiming that consumers could potentially confuse the services offered by the two companies. The validity of such a claim is clearly to be questioned, and the ball is now in the court of the courts, which will have to decide in this case of non-respect of intellectual property. As Milan Kundera wrote in his book laughable loves in 1969: Too ardent faith is the worst of allies. As soon as we take something literally, faith pushes this thing to absurdity. “A sentence that could well sum up this case without tail or head. As a reminder, Pornhub and other porn sites are currently in the crosshairs of French justice.
Source : Chelsea News
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