Slow News Monday: Germans, Dildos, and Intellectual Property
Submitted for your discussion: A story about Germans, dildos, and intellectual property:
BERLIN (Reuters)—German sex shop chain Beate Uhse must pay German football stars Michael Ballack and Oliver Kahn 50,000 euros (34,000 pounds) each for using their names for vibrators without permission, the company said on Monday.
The company had marketed the sex toys, dubbed "Michael B." and "Olli K.", before Germany hosted the World Cup in 2006.
Although the surnames of the two German soccer stars were not used, it was clear they referred to Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn.
Kahn and national team captain Ballack sued Beate Uhse in court for unauthorised use of their names and won.
"The products have been withdrawn," the spokeswoman said. "We have to pay 50,000 euros to each of them."
Whole three-inch story here.
Reason on IP here. On talking sex toys here. On bad Germans here.