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You loved “Choose Your Own Adventure” books…
Who didn’t love these books, right? I had so many of them when I was a kid - my bookshelf was simply littered with them - and I used to spend hours carefully working my way through them all, earmarking pages so that I could come back and make the “other” choice once my current storyline was finished. It was a good times.
In any event, the creator of these books, R.A. Montgomery, has filed a lawsuit for trademark infringement. He and his company, Chooseco LLC, are suing DaimlerChrysler and various others over a recent ad campaign for the Jeep Patriot which uses “choose your own adventure.” They first asked the defendants to stop using their trademark and, when that request was denied, Montgomery choose the other option, to go to court:
“The misappropriation of the Choose Your Own Adventure mark by Jeep is particularly harmful as Choose Your Own Adventure books have also promoted interactive adventure and active lifestyles for boys and girls for over 20 years,” stated Chooseco publisher Shannon Gilligan. “This Jeep ad campaign is a gross abuse of our brand.”
I’m not really sure I follow the logic about why this campaign is “particularly harmful” or why it’s a gross abuse, but I will admit that the phrase immediatley makes me think of the book series, even now, more than 20 years since I picked one up; and that’s a pretty strong amount of secondary meaning if you ask me.
To find out what secondary meaning is, click here.
To continue this adventure, click here.
