Cuffs Off the Tardis
LOL!
An acquantance of mine just sent me an article about that via e-mail –
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The BBC has won a court case over the rights to the famous Police Box design.
The Metropolitan Police objected to the BBC profiting from the use of the Police Box image for merchandise, arguing that it was originally designed for their use.
Losing the appeal the Metropolitan Police was ordered to pay £850, plus legal costs. The battle commenced when the Patent Office originally accepted the TARDIS as a BBC trademark in 1996.
Hearing officer Mike Knight said that the police telephone box was not the exclusive property of the Metropolitan Police as it had been used by other forces outside London.
Summing, up Mr Knight said, “I bear in mind that for most of the period since the Police Call Box was taken out of service, the only sight the public at large would have had of this item of street furniture has been in the TV programme Doctor Who, provided by the BBC, where it is a TARDIS, a fictional time-travelling machine with the external appearance of a police box.”
Shortly after the ruling, the Metropolitan Police announced plans to bring the Police Box back to the streets of London, presumably in the shape of Grandfather Clock or an Ionic Column.
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LOL! [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
[ 14-11-2002: Message edited by: Chamileon ]