November 14, 2007 | Category: Logo Design News | Tags: Logo Design News

Car rental company Avis has warned Eric Turkewitz, a lawyer and blogger of New York Personal Injury Law Blog, to remove its logo to avoid any possible dispute on trademark logo abuse.

In one of his posts, he talked about car rental immunity law and used the logos of leading car rental companies Hertz and Avis to make the post more expressive. However, Avis Budget Group associate general counsel Fred Grumman left a comment on his blog stating:

We have the greatest respect for your right to express your opinions on your blog, but that does not include the right to use Avis’ trademark as you have done in this particular piece.

Understandably, trademark law is not within your area of expertise. Therefore, we trust that this was done out of ignorance and not based on an intent to misuse our mark to the benefit of your personal injury practice.

We ask that you remove it immediately and refrain from any similar use in the future.

Lawyer that he is, Turkewitz admitted his lack of expertise on trademark laws but he is confident that he did not commit any violation. In fact, he challenged Avis to send a formal cease and desist letter to specify the legal claims. He even called the threat as “an empty attempt to bully and intimidate.”

Some lawyers side with Turkewitz on this issue for they believe there is no valid claim here.