Rex

This morning Rex was reading one of the slogans on the Cap'n Crunch box, and he noted the tiny 'TM' at the end, and said "Yup, no one can copy that." I was confused for a minute but then remembered that a few months ago he had asked why the Y on Lucy's BYU t-shirt had a tiny 'TM' by it. I had explained to him (taking pride as an IP lawyer in my son's interest in our protections for intellectual property) that this meant that the way the Y was written was someone's creative idea, so they trademarked it and put a TM by it to make sure no one else could use it. That little conversation had stuck with him until now, when he casually observed that old Cap'n Crunch and his slogan ("Crunch-a-tize me, Cap'n!" was the exact phrase) were well-protected.

Well, the impact of that conversation didn't end there. Rex came into sacrament meeting after primary carrying a little piece of art*:




This piece depicts Rex playing soccer in the front yard while Lucy flies a kite. And if you're having any thoughts at all about copying this little tableau, please note the top right corner.

If Rex never follows any of my other advice, I'll know that at least I've given him the gift of intellectual property protection. And that's not nothing.



*Trademark of Rex Gregory Bell. Used with permission. This drawing shall not be distributed, copied, transmitted, altered, manipulated, or otherwise used or employed without written consent of Rex Gregory Bell. All rights reserved.