Dish Networks Fights Dennis Hopper Estate Over 'Hopper' Name

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Scott Greczkowski said:
I got to admit, the entire time I have had my Hopper I never once thought of Dennis Hopper.

If this one win then maybe I should file a lawsuit against those toilet paper people. :D
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I always thought the Hopper was named after a bunny rabbit. You can't trademark a name for god sakes, doing so would give you the right to sue everyone with the same family name for using the name in public.

Image I trademark Greczkowski

At Walmart on the loud speaker " mr Greczkowski, please come to the customer service desk"
Lawyer: woohoooo!
Scott: Doh!

Come on, people need to stop thinking about making a quick buck and start using common sense

Canada 1-0 over Sweden


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From day one I thought the name "Hopper" for the Dish DVR model was about the dumbest idea I ever heard. It was, gut splitting stupid and laughable. It makes Dish Network look silly as a company.

It would be like a car company coming out with a new model car and calling it the "Fruitcake" or if we stick with animals, calling it the "Termite" Would you buy a car called the Termite or Fruitcake?

I never saw the value in the Hopper DVR over the VIP722K but if it had equal value, I still would not have a DVR in my home that was called the "Hopper or Joey." There is just no significance that can be positively derived from a name for a DVR based on the way a kangaroo moves. But even the name "pogo" might work if Dish marketing did have some far fetched love affair with jumping up and down.

I would have been more impressed with Dish Network had they selected a more appropriate name like "The Time Saver" Dish can pay me for that name if they want to use it. :) Like free subscription for life. :)


Claude- I agree with you about the name Dish too. It is silly. Even Charlie once commented that he loved the name DirecTV much better than Dish Network.


The real issue here is we have a PTO that has lost it's mind in recent years and has created all these frivolous intellectual property law suits.
 
Don Landis said:
From day one I thought the name "Hopper" for the Dish DVR model was about the dumbest idea I ever heard. It was, gut splitting stupid and laughable. It makes Dish Network look silly as a company.
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Obviously, DirecTV disagrees, or they wouldn't have named theirs "The Genie." Personally I think the "Hopper" moniker is a marketing success. You have to remember that most of us on this forum are tech savvy. We like traditional naming conventions like "Model 211" or "VIP 222." The common consumer doesn't identify with that. The Hopper says something about the device- you can "hop" or skip commercials with it. Most people probably wouldn't have a clue in their mind what a 211 is, but if you mention The Hopper, they'll probably say, "Hey I saw a commercial about that, my friend has one." Or, "I have that." I'm not a DirecTV customer anymore so I don't know how well the Genie thing is working out for them, but again, their product has a readily identifiable name.
 
Well if Dish did indeed file an intent to use on Hopper before the Hopper estate filed anything Dish should be OK to continue using the name. The only question will be if Dish can lay claim to other Hopper branded items...
 
Don Landis said:
...I would have been more impressed with Dish Network had they selected a more appropriate name like "The Time Saver" Dish can pay me for that name if they want to use it. :) Like free subscription for life. :)...
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now that may be the stupidest name for a receiver I have ever heard!
 
Stupid name and stupid of Hopper estate to trademark the name. But I would think the Hopper name for the Dish Receiver has been around before 2012.
 
Slamminc11 said:
now that may be the stupidest name for a receiver I have ever heard!
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:D Yeah, agreed, saving time watching TV, what a dumb concept since watching TV is the biggest waste of time we humans do. :D


I don't deal with customers of satellite TV like you installers and Dish employees but the only time I ever heard someone question the DVR was at Blockbuster where they had the kiosk demo and a customer asked why is this called a hopper? The clerk said it's the name of Dish TV receiver. The customer shook his head and said "I don't get it, what does hopping have to do with watching TV?" I just had to laugh because I do understand satellite TV and don't get the name either. But, I do agree that tech stuff with model numbers are hard for the average consumer to relate to as well.

Now, thanks for the real meaning here. I never knew that with Dish Network we don't skip commercials we hop over them. Really? Then maybe the Dish DVR should have been named the Skipper, if that is what it is all about. I really don't think with all the commercials that people understand the mascot of the Kangaroo means you hop over the commercials.

One thing is certain and I know this well. When it comes to marketing, coming up with a really stupid idea, it gets attention and with enough advertising the name gets remembered. I know the Hopper name even if I don't understand it. I didn't know the DirecTV Genie name. But, I know the Tivo far better than the Hopper and Tivo isn't even a word I can relate to some goofy looking animal from Australia. Everybody knows Tivo. It is now a verb. Some of my friends even ask me to Tivo a show and I understand what they mean even though I own a VIP722K.
 
This whole controversy reminds me of when North Korea's Kim Il Sung was still alive,he forced all other North Koreans whose name was "Jong Il" to change their names so that only his son would be named Kim "Jong Il." Is the Hopper estate going to challenge everybody else whose last name is "Hopper" & force them to change their name?
 
If I were to ask my wife and kids what the "name" (or model #) of our previous Dish receivers were, I assure you, they'd have no clue. They do know that the one we have now is "da hoppa!". Do they question, or care, why it's called that ? Pfffft, no.... Do they wonder why Honda named their mom's van "Odyssey" ? Nope....
 
Hall said:
If I were to ask my wife and kids what the "name" (or model #) of our previous Dish receivers were, I assure you, they'd have no clue. They do know that the one we have now is "da hoppa!". Do they question, or care, why it's called that ? Pfffft, no.... Do they wonder why Honda named their mom's van "Odyssey" ? Nope....
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Exactly! The important things is, the name is memorable...whether it makes sense or not. Like Google... it's a verb now too!
 
Kraven said:
You can't trademark a name for god sakes, doing so would give you the right to sue everyone with the same family name for using the name in public.
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Try selling a product named after you if your name is McDonald, Ford, Disney, Sears, Macy, Schwab, Proctor or Gable, DuPont, Avon, Ralph Lauren, Hewlett, Packard, Kroger, Phillips, Lowe, Hess, Deere or Tyson.

Yes, you can definitely trademark a name. You just have to get there first, and you have to use it in a commercial nature proving that having someone else use the name will irreparably harm your business.
 

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