To Gnome Is to Sue Over Him, as Southlake-Based Travelocity Goes After QVC

By Robert Wilonsky Tue., Jan. 4 2011 at 12:12 PM

Categories: News

At right is a decidedly familiar figure -- the Travelocity Roaming Gnome, which first began appearing in the Southlake-based online travel agency's ads way back in January 2004. Or is it? Because, you see, Travelocity's downtown Dallas attorney, Fish & Richardson's Victor C. Johnson, says in court docs that what you're looking at isn't the gnome -- far from it, actually.

In a suit filed yesterday in Dallas federal court, Travelocity is claiming that QVC has been selling this imitation gnome for a long time, all the while violating Travelocity's trademark and cheapening the brand name. Because, see, if you go to the QVC website, you'll see it's selling the Travelocity 13" Roaming Gnome Garden Statue for $26.50, plus shipping and handling. But Travelocity says that's QVC's has been selling "counterfeits" made by a company out of New York called SK Enterprises, which is also named in the suit. (Update: Joel Frey, who handles PR for Travelocity, clarifies via e-mail: "QVC was and still is an authorized reseller of the genuine Roaming Gnome statue, as discussed in paragraph 28. The counterfeit version is the one that we are concerned about, as discussed in paragraphs 29 and 30.")

And till recently, says the suit, QVC was selling several other gnome-related products, all under the Travelocity name brand. Which is why, for starters, it's demanding "statutory damages of $2,000,000 per counterfeit mark per type of good."

Suit's on the other side. Travelocity v QVC

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G. David

Screw both of them, and screw some Australian prank that took place in the 80's. It may not be original to the movie Amelie, but that's the first place the world saw it, and it's a complete rip-off of that wonderful film. Of course, I'm talking about that part of the world that watches French movies with subtitles.

Syd_Nancy

Just in case Fish &Richardson is watching, the avatar attached to this profile is actually a picture of Syd taken at a Sloberbone concert. It is not, I repeat NOT Alfred e Newman

El Rey

They still have it listed for sale using "Travelocity Roaming Gnome" as the name? With no money from each sale going to Travelocity?

QVC has some big balls. Big, stupid, balls...

Heywood U Buzzoff

Wilonsky -- I thought the 'Seeing 13" roaming gnome' was part of your pickup line at bars, bus stations and Chuck E Cheese's? Who knew you were shilling for Travelocity!

Gabe

Didn't the gnome idea come from the film Amelie, anyway? Did they license the idea from the film-makers?

Robert Wilonsky

Our web editor asked me the same thing. But no. Here, the origin explained.

http://sleepless.blogs.com/geo...

Arnold_ziffel

QVC should have been smarter than to market anything using someone else's corporate brand on it. That was not smart, and they need to be reminded that brand belongs to someone else. Either pay for it or don't use it, but you can't have it for free.