Subversive web comic used to push smoothie chain? Must be an IP controversy!

A recent advertising campaign by juice shop chain Jamba Juice has prompted a lively debate across social media sites regarding its possible co-opting of a popular cartoonist's technique.

In a recent advertising spot on the company's website, Jamba Juice used images taken from clip art to depict two characters talking about taking a vacation in their cubicles by drinking Jamba Juice.

Clip art characters are in the public domain, so there wouldn't have been a problem but for one thing: the creators of the Jamba cartoon used the same two images (out of thousands of available clip art characters) that have been used most frequently by popular web cartoonist David Rees for his strips Get Your War On and My New Filing Technique is Unstoppable.

The general consensus seems to be that, since the clip art is in the public domain, there's no copyright infringement here. George Washington School of Law student Andy makes a convincing case on his blog for this being a trademark or trade dress issue. Many commentors don't see any illegal activity on Jamba's part, but a fair amount of sleaziness in their copying Rees' style, particularly because Rees' cartoons are decidedly anti-corporate. (If this blog were to have an editorial opinion, it might fall into the last category, but we are, of course, objective at the Patent and Trademark Center.)

Anyhow, I'll defer to the wired masses to keep the discussion going at these sites. Please feel free to comment here, as well.