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            Trademark challenger: Fired up over 'The Apprentice'
            By Kelly Gyenes
            CNN
            Tuesday, April 13, 2004 Posted: 9:33 AM EDT (1333 GMT) 


                  Jessie Conners



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            ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- While fans of NBC's "The Apprentice" gear 
            up for the final firing, one failed contestant is gearing up for a 
            fight with the man who fired her.
            Jessie Conners, 22, from New Richmond, Wisconsin, was fired in week 
            six's episode of "The Apprentice," the reality show featuring 
            several people competing to win a $250,000 job with real estate 
            mogul Donald Trump's organization. Each week, a contestant is 
            dismissed from the show by Trump with what has become the latest 
            catchphrase, "You're fired."
            Trump fired Conners, in part, for not standing up for herself in a 
            boardroom showdown with rival Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth.
            Now, Conners has taken a stand against Trump by applying to register 
            three trademarks in an effort to capitalize on her experience with 
            the show and market products she said she intends to develop.
            Conners has joined the list of people trying to register the 
            trademark "You're fired" -- in her case, for the purpose of 
            producing a clothing line.
            Conners said she has also submitted applications to register "The 
            Apprentice" under the trademark classifications of clothing and 
            literature. In addition to starting a "You're Fired" clothing line, 
            she said she would like to write a book and perhaps produce a 
            magazine titled "The Apprentice."
            Previously, Trump applied to register "You're Fired" (both with and 
            without exclamation points) for games and playthings and casino 
            services. In addition, Trump has applied to register "You're Fired" 
            for paper goods, home furnishings, pillows, housewares, linens, toys 
            and sporting goods, alcoholic beverage and clothing purposes.
            And JMBP Inc., the production company of show creator Mark Burnett, 
            has filed to trademark "You're Fired" for clothing, footwear and 
            headgear. Burnett has also filed to register "The Apprentice" for 
            entertainment and television purposes, according to the U.S. Patent 
            and Trademark Office Web site.
            Neither Trump nor Burnett could be reached for comment.
            Conners admits that she has entered a "gray area," because of the 
            rights the show has to promote and advertise itself, and her 
            contract with the show.
            A legal debate already is heating up around the rush on trademarks 
            related to the NBC hit.
            "The question is whether or not the public would perceive [the 
            words] as a trademark or a message," said Roger Schechter, professor 
            of law at George Washington University Law School.
            Will the public view the words as a communication or believe that 
            the words are sponsored or licensed by Donald Trump? Schechter said 
            the answer depends on what the public's reaction and perception 
            would be.
            "Everything in our world is gray, is kind of 'maybe,' " Schechter 
            said.
            Perhaps Trump summarized Conners best in his new book, "Trump: How 
            to Get Rich," in which he wrote: "You've got to fight back if you 
            want to be successful in business." While Trump noted in the book 
            that Conners didn't defend herself on the show, he also concluded: 
            "Don't underestimate her."
            Maybe this apprentice has learned a lesson from the master. "Who 
            knows if I'll get [the trademarks] or not," Conners said. "But the 
            fact that I stood up and I am doing it and I am fighting ... that's 
            where the fun is for me."


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