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Want to text2win? It's going to cost you

Keith McArthur, May 29, 2007 at 2:19 PM EDT

text2win

I couldn't make it to last night's Canadian New Media Awards, but I met some of the finalists at a lunch yesterday, including Jacqueline Jung of Fjord Interactive in Vancouver who won the designer of the year award.

The new media company of the year award went to mobile marketing company MyThum Interactive.

The company has run campaigns for brands including Molson, Best Buy, Nike and Nokia. Part of what they do is text to win campaigns, but they can't refer to them as such. I was fascinated to learn recently that "text to win" and text2win are registered trademarks in Canada licensed to The Mobile Content Company (MCC) Inc. MCC was founded by Graham Young, who works part time in the Globe's circulation department.

He says several marketers - including the Toronto Raptors, Choice Hotels and Subway - have tried to use the term without authorization. Some have agreed to pay for rights to the term; others have voluntarily changed the name of their campaigns; and others have been sent cease and desist letters.

  1. Douglas Walker from Toronto, Canada writes: This is yet another example showing how broken is our intellectual property system. The fact that people can lay claim to such common turns of phrase is patently absurd (sorry, couldn't resist). I can't entirely blame someone for enforcing their legal rights, but I certain do blame the ones so out of touch that they allowed it to be trademarked in the first place.
  2. Dean Black from Toronto, writes: I guess Mr. Walker also wants to pay all artists by the hour regardless of talent or skill. It is no more absurd to seek trademark protection for "Text to Win" than "Roll up the Rim to Win" which Tim Horton's paid their agency (or cup manufacturer) good money to come up with. Both were just catchy phrases at first. Phrases that produced added value for their brands (and great revenues) over time because they resonate with the consumer. Both had to have additional investment made in advertising in order to create that marketing or brand value for the phrase. Both are intellectual properties that need trademark protection (which Timmy's has enforced as well) in order to extract the value from the investment and the work by advertising the brands' promotions without fear of a competitor copying the idea (hense the term). Instead of criticizing the person with the trademark for the foresight to realize what he had before anyone else, we should celebrate him for his creativity and entrepreneural chops.

    Good artists should be paid more than poor ones - let the market decide. Good ideas should accrue more profit than poor ones - protect them long enough to let the market decide. The system isn't broken Mr. Walker, it's just misunderstood - that is unless you also want Kleenex to change its name too!
  3. Douglas Walker from Toronto, Canada writes: Mr. Black you are misunderstanding (or I am not making clear) my point. I believe in the market setting prices based on talent, opportunity or even dumb luck. You don't need to be a socialist to realize that IP laws are seriously holding back innovation in the tech space.

    I just think it is crazy that the Canadian Intellectual Property Office will allow people to lock up a common usage term like "Text to Win". This is like Amazon trademarking and patenting "1 click purchase" or domain squatting.

    I wouldn't suggest a brand like Kleenex change its name because it is in common usage, but I don't think a company should be able to come along and trademark the word "tissue".
  4. Dean Black from Toronto, writes: Mr. Walker I am missing your point. I think that you will find that "Text to Win" was trademarked by a US firm in the US (and Canada amongst other Countries) several years ago and prior to the North American markets' text messaging penetration reaching a critical mass that would make attractive /efficient to be used as a promotional medium. Thus the trademarking of the term would actually have taken place prior to its usage becomming "common".

    You seem upset that a person here in Canada would be willing to purchase the rights to license the phrase here from the original and legal owner.

    My point was that the fact that it is now in common usage is a result of the confidence with which the trademark owners could invest in advertising, usage and policing of the term. Not the other way around (like domain squatting). If Amazon did use "1 Click Purchase" first, I'll bet that they are kicking themselves for not trademarking it then!
  5. Christina M from Etobicoke, Canada writes: "text to win" and "roll up the rim to win" are completely different.

    "text to win" - are you saying that it takes intellect to come up with that? are you serious?

    "text to win" does not and will not be associated with one specific brand in the eyes of consumers. It may be too early to tell, yet I think this is a legitamate statement.

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