| Turkish said: Yeah, no. Portraying that dude in a videogame commercial is clearly trying to eat from Sony's IP. |
Turkish, before you respond with your opinion, could you please try to at least make yourself somewhat educated about US law?
Here is what Sony can trademark.
The words "Kevin Butler", though generic they can still trademark it.
The words "VP of Everything" (as a service mark).
The character "Kevin Butler" in the game "Little Big Planet 2".
Sony cannot trademark the actor Jerry Lambert, nor can they trademark his actual image. If there are contract issues, then that's a different matter, but no one owns Jerry Lambert's image or likeness.
The problem Sony has is if Lambert's likeness is a trademark, then Holiday Inn and Gieco both had commercials featuring Lambert before Sony did. Just because Sony's character became popular is meaningless under Common Law. What is important is who first used the trademark. If Lambert's likeness is a trademark, then Holiday Inn or Gieco have prior art to prove ownership. Which is exactly why a company cannot trademark a person. Especially when generic.
Had Kevin Butler been a very unique character that everyone recognized, then Sony would definitely have a case. The problem is that Kevin Butler is a generic looking character. Trying to pick out whether or not Jerry Lambert is playing Kevin Butler from one of his acting performances is pretty difficult. There's one specific one that I know of where no one would confuse it, other than that every other character has been generic.
