L.A. Dodgers Sue Over Brooklyn Burger Logo

Though they left Brooklyn just before the 1958 season, the L.A. Dodgers (a name that now makes as much sense as the L.A. Lakers or the Utah Jazz) just can't let the people of Brooklyn be. Brooklyn Burger's logo features the iconic "Brooklyn" lettering used by the team when they were still on the east coast, and now the Dodgers are suing owner Alan Buxbaum, accusing him of trying to convince customers that the burgers were made by the baseball club. The baseball club in L.A. Let it go guys, you're not from Brooklyn anymore.

Buxbaum's logo was approved for trademark back in April, but last week the Dodgers filed an official complaint with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Buxbaum's lawyer, Robert Maldonado, thinks the complaint is absurd. "People who see [Buxbaum's logo] in Brooklyn aren't going to think the Brooklyn Dodgers are selling hamburgers," he said. "It's crazy for the Los Angeles Dodgers to claim exclusive rights to the word 'Brooklyn' when they left Brooklyn 50 years ago." That word belongs to Marty Markowitz now!

Landi's Pork Store in Flatlands has been using the font since they opened in 1958, and when asked if they would change their logo, owner John Landi Jr. said in comically Brooklyn form, "Oh, fuck them! What do they have to do with Brooklyn? They left Brooklyn years ago. We don't let nobody push us around. Change our logo? Oh, fuhgeddaboudit. Tell them to come down here, we'll straighten it all out." Oy vey! Gabagool! Een Draght Mackt Maght! Etc.

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By Jaya Saxena in News on November 3, 2010 1:41 PM

Comments [rss]

SC

That word belongs to Marty Markowitz now!

Ha!

jaycjay

"L.A. Dodgers Sue"

Two inaccuracies right there: What actually happened was that Major League Baseball filed a formal complaint with the USPTO.

No lawsuit has been filed, and the Dodgers didn't take the action.

soxinthecity

Q: What do you do if you are in front of Hitler, Stalin, and Walter O'Malley, and your gun only has 2 bullets left?

A: Shoot O'Malley twice.

jaycjay

Ah, the classics!

lauren_l

Also, Landi's is in Old Mill Basin, not Flatlands.

L. Hernandez

Somebody call Justice Sotomayor

RealNYer

It's actually called Landi's Pork Store, not Lindi's... welcome to Brooklyn.

http://www.brooklynporkstore.com/

soxinthecity

The Dodgers are suing because they know that they make more $$$ selling Brooklyn Dodger memorabilia than a lot of teams do on all their merchandise.

Rocknrope

I wonder if they're going to go after the "Brooklyn Jews" shirt guys next:

http://gothamist.com/2009/11/16/brooklyn_jews.php

Guest

(a name that now makes as much sense as the L.A. Lakers or the Utah Jazz)

Jaya, although I agree with the statement above, please explain why it matters what city goes in front of the word Dodger.

DanielJ

Because the Dodgers are short for Trolley Dodgers, referring to the glut of trolleys in Brooklyn in the early part of the last century. No trolleys in LA that I can think of,just like LA isn't known for its lakes nor Utah for its jazz.

Guest

Thanks. So I guess the only other place they could have moved to that would make any sense was San Fran.

Jaya Saxena

They were nicknamed the Dodgers because when they played at Eastern Park, they would have to dodge the trolleys to get to the field. Maybe not as ridiculous as Lakers, but it's still a remnant of their Brooklyn past that doesn't make as much sense in Los Angeles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Brooklyn_Dodgers#The_team.27s_nickname

Wza

lol @ Lindi's response.

Word.

robingee

Lame. That's just baseball-jersey script, everyone uses that.

Dogsbody

That's what I thought - it's just a fairly generic "baseball-shirt" font, spelling out a word that is a simple place-name.

If they used some special font that was uniquely associated with the Dodgers (like the Coca-Cola font is associated with Coca Cola), or if the burger joint was named after a specific entity's trademarked name (such as the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers),then they might have a case. But this sounds kind of stupid.