John Joseph Bachir’s blog
The brilliant and prolific Kembrew McLeod is at it again. The intellectual property scholar, author, filmmaker, and prankster has put together a new website promoting his book and newly released film:
http://freedomofexpression.us.
Also be sure to check out his recent interview with Jonathan Lethem, and op-ed in the LA Times.
See previous Kembrew coverage here.
Remember Leo Stoller? Get caught up on The Story So Far here.
Well Lance Johnson has written in again to let me know:
If you or your readers happen to be in Chicago on July 24, 2007 the bankruptcy court will be conducting an auction of Stoller’s trademark portfolio and corporate stock. A newly formed company, The Society for the Prevention of Trademark Abuse LLC, has tendered a bid. All are, however, invited to attend the show and try to take home a piece of IP history.
Wow, does that sound like a good time or what? If you or someone you know is a writer and will be in Chicago on the 24th, this could make for a fantastic quirky feature story. Justice is brought to a 21st century con man via the mass auctioning of his intangible belongings. Surreal, hilarious, and awkwardly relevant.
The auction will take place in the courtroom of Judge Schmetterer at 221 S. Dearborn Street. One hearing is at 10 am, another is at 11:30 am.
Lance also sent along a few documents relevant to the case: Exhibit 1, Motion for Sale, Sale Procedures Order
Update: Looks like things have changed a bit. From Lance’s comment here:
The auction process has not yet been completed. Stoller has been given a last opportunity to provide documents to the trustee. These documents would have to establish an intrinsic value for each of the marks in Stoller’s estate and corporations that is higher than the bid offered. He has until July 31. (Stoller has testified numerous times before this judge that he did not have these documents. Where he plans to “discover” them is anybody’s bet although parties experienced in Stoller litigation will likely have a pretty good idea of where the documents will come from.)
The hearing on the sale will commence on August 7.
[snip]
A little over a year ago, there was some buzz about Leo Stoller, a slimey guy who claims to have the intellectual property rights of thousands of words that he claims are his trademarks and brands.
My buddy and hero Kembrew McLeod, who is a professional prankster, tenured professor, and filmmaker, happened to actually own a trademark on the phrase “Freedom of Expression” (for use as a periodical title, now expired). For completely unrelated reasons, I had registered the domain freedomofexpression.org. Turns out, Leo Stoller also claimed to have a trademark on this expression.
Kembrew came up with the brilliant idea of sending a cease and desist letter to Stoller. My friend Julie Gilberg was game for making us some art, we got a couple other domains registered, and soon we had the Freedom of Expression Security Consortium: Regulating Freedom in the Marketplace of Ideas.
People were pretty into the whole thing, and it was even covered on Boing Boing. Whoo hoo!
But Stoller never responded, and the whole thing faded away as a happy memory.
Well, I recently got a nice surprise in the comments section of my post on the stunt:
links cleaned up by me
Stoller has now been enjoined as a vexatious litigant and barred from filing any more lawsuits or trademark oppositions without first getting permission from the court. The bankruptcy judge has also revealed how Stoller’s business scheme was working. See, document 1 (pdf) and document 2 (pdf).
Wow! I don’t know what enjoined means, but it sounds like justice to me! And how cool is it that a lawyer involved in the case found my blog and left an update on the story! (this is why I love blogs and other new media… the simple, powerful ways through which people can connect).
So it seems that Leo Stoller’s racket is shut down. Clearly Kembrew, Julie, and I are at least partially responsible…
