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Careful With That 'Breaking the Sound Barrier' Comparison
Know this: If you compare your product, service or breakthrough to Chuck Yeager's breaking of the sound barrier, you're probably going to wind up in court.
OnPointNews reports that the famous test pilot has sued computer chip maker
Advanced Micro Devices over a March 2000 press release
in which its CEO, W.J. Sanders, stated: "Just as the achievement of Chuck Yeager signaled
the beginning of a new era in aviation, the 1GHz processor ushers in a
new era of information technology."
The AMD release went on to cite other famous pioneers, as well, such as
Neil Armstrong, Roger Bannister and Edmund Hillary, before proclaiming
that "[n]obody
remembers who got there second. Today's launch of the 1GHz AMD
Athlon processor permanently secures AMD's place in the record
books."
In this complaint, filed on Sept. 9, Yeager alleges that AMD created a "subliminal suggestion of endorsement by General Yeager and an implied connection between General Yeager's personal accomplishments and AMD's new product." Yeager claims that the “the clear
impression upon the public that there was an implied endorsement by
General Yeager of AMD's new product line” was false. He asserts the violation of both common law and statutory rights of privacy in California, among other causes of action.
OnPointNews notes that Yeager similarly sued Cingular Wireless (now AT&T) in November 2007 after the company
compared its new hurricane
response service to the breaking of the sound barrier in a press release. AT&T's motion for summary judgment in that case is scheduled for a hearing on Oct. 30.
Posted by Bruce Carton on October 6, 2009 at 03:45 PM | Permalink
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