How do we battle such a large corporation for our simple, loving organization
Binky Patrol has been contacted by the attorneys for Playtex. They are telling us we need to stop using the name “binky” because they own it. They make pacifiers – we give away blankets. They make reference to their customers being confused by our “products.” We don’t have the money for attorneys to fight such a large corporation, but need help and ideas for dealing with this matter. CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST UPDATES.
Update as of June 19, 2001 – Susan just spoke with the internal counsel for Playtex. They have received a package from Binky Patrol with our “story” in it. They are reviewing it. Yesterday we also received the results from the trademark search ($$$) conducted by Levin & Hawes. The knowledge was worth it. The word “binky” is intellectual property of Playtex, we are sad to say — the word all by itself. In a previous conversation, their internal counsel said they would consider royalty-free use of the the word for us – because what we do is such a nice thing. Keep your fingers crossed and prayers a’flyin’! Hopefully this will end up positive for everyone. We’ll keep you informed.
Update as of June 5, 2001 – 
We have a defense team. Binky Patrol is proud to announce that the firm of Levin & Hawes of Laguna Beach have agreed to a retainer with us regarding the Playtex issue.
Their specialty is Intellectual Property Law and have recently won a case involving one man against Pfizer – with the award as the largest in history in such a case. We are grateful they agreed to take this case to help us resolve this matter quickly. William Levin and Patty Robinson will be handling all matters regarding this issue. To learn more about this successful firm and team, please click here.
Please DO NOT contact Playtex about this matter. It could easily worsen the situation. Let us try to get a handle on this. We will keep you all updated on this page. Again, please DO NOT contact Playtex at this point. Your ideas are welcomed and appreciated. Email them to sfinch@binkypatrol.org.
Last week, I went to our PO Box and received a letter from Playtex’s attorneys. I was in tears at the Post Office. People asked what was wrong – Laguna Beach is a small town with a big heart – and I told them that the Playtex attorneys wanted us to stop using the name BINKY. There was shock and compassion. How could anyone confuse the two? How could a company that cares about people and the environment be worried that these knitters, crocheters and quilters would tarnish the brand name for nipples? Specifically, Binky Pacifiers.
Our organization was named after a homeless man in Laguna with the nickname “binky” because he walked around with a blanket around his head. He is a very sweet man and one of our biggest fans. I was touched by how gentle he was and when I set out to start this organization, his face came to mind and his nickname. His real name is Shandor. He is one of Binky Patrol’s unexepected Angels.
We DO NOT want to change our name. There is no need for that. We are looking for constructive suggestions to help us with this matter. I know emotions run deep. This is the 5th draft of this article — had to tone it down a bit.
Click here to read the letter from Playtex’s attorneys – page 1, page 2 in pdf format.