Posted on 03/31/2008 1:08:16 PM PDT by kiriath_jearim
WASHINGTON (AP) - The term "freedom's watch" is not distinctive enough to warrant a lawsuit over trademark infringement, a federal judge has ruled in a case that pitted a one-time hero of conservatives against former aides and financial backers of President Bush. Larry Klayman, who persistently took President Clinton and his administration to court a decade ago, lost his fight against a well- financed group that is planning to be a major presence in this year's elections and beyond.
The group, called Freedom's Watch, is positioning itself as the conservative alternative to liberal organizations such as MoveOn.org and has recently hired experienced Republican strategists to help with its 2008 advocacy campaign.
Klayman's lawsuit accused Freedom's Watch of appropriating a name he had used to promote his own public interest legal work. Klayman, a Miami resident, used the name Freedom Watch in 2004 on behalf of his nonprofit legal and educational activities after he left a group known as Judicial Watch.
U.S. District Court Judge Paul C. Huck concluded last week that the name was too generic to deserve protection. Moreover, Huck wrote, Klayman's efforts to associate the name Freedom Watch with his legal and educational activities had been "underwhelming."
"He thus would be hard pressed to reasonably argue that his efforts established a connection in the public's mind between the term and his organization," the judge wrote.
The new Freedom's Watch, formed last year and financed by former Bush aides and Republican fundraisers, mounted a multimillion dollar advertising campaign last year to pressure Democrats and wavering Republicans not to interfere with Bush's Iraq strategy.
Klayman emerged in the 1990s when he founded Judicial Watch and used the Washington watchdog group to file lawsuits against Clinton, his wife, Hillary, and his administration. A libertarian, Klayman has been a prolific litigant; his targets have included Vice President Dick Cheney, former House Republican Leader Tom DeLay, Osama bin Laden and Fidel Castro.
Freedom's Watch spokesman Jake Suski said, "We're confident that this nonsense is behind us as we continue to advocate for mainstream conservative values and issues."
Klayman did not immediately respond to messages.
Just tell me this group isn’t a bunch of ‘country club Republicans’.
The power to tax is the power to destroy!
Boo hoo. Poor Larry. Running out of marks, eh?
What? ...a little slow
I wonder what happened to all that support you once enjoyed.
I know Klayman has flailed away at a lot of targets. Did he ever hit any?
Other than Clinton, Gingrich, and Dole, he is one of the biggest disappointments of the 1990s.
All hat and no cattle.
Ol’ Lar loses again?......
Fixed it.
Larry Klayman lost again? There is a shocker. What is he, 0 for 4 million now?
Chuckle...yeah, that's a good one...
You know what, I don’t know. I always here, “He sued his mother!” but they never say who won or what it was about.
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