Designing Around Trademark Restrictions

Can a bunch of birthday cake-smeared five-year-olds distinguish between the “real” SpongeBob SquarePants and a convincing lookalike, say, AbsorBert AngularTrousers? Probably not, but intellectual property lawyers can, and that’s a real problem for parents seeking favorite—and trademark-protected—cartoon characters to entertain at their children’s birthday parties. The Wall Street Journal devoted yesterday’s A-Hed to the story, focusing on the costume industry’s strategies to avoid lawsuits.