Boing Boing

Boing Boing

Share this post

Boing Boing
Boing Boing
How "moron in a hurry" became a favorite way to settle trademark disputes
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

How "moron in a hurry" became a favorite way to settle trademark disputes

Ellsworth Toohey
Dec 11, 2024
∙ Paid
2

Share this post

Boing Boing
Boing Boing
How "moron in a hurry" became a favorite way to settle trademark disputes
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
1
Share

Boing Boing/Midjourney

In 1978, a British judge coined what would become one of law's most memorable phrases. While ruling on a trademark dispute between two newspapers, Justice Foster declared that "only a moron in a hurry" could confuse the Communist Party's Morning Star with the forthcoming Daily Star tabloid.

The "moron in a hurry" test became useful …

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Boing Boing to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
A guest post by
Ellsworth Toohey
Contributor to Boing Boing
Subscribe to Ellsworth
© 2025 Happy Mutants LLC
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More