Last week, the RNC accused Brad Schneider, the Democratic candidate for Illinois’ 10th Congressional Distrit, of improperly using the RNC elephant logo in a campaign ad. However, campaign attorney Jim Lamb fired back at the RNC writing that it “does not constitute an infringement of the RNC’s trademark” because “is not ‘likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake or to deceive” since Mr. Dold “is, in fact, a Republican and the picture of an elephant only reinforces that fact.” After all, “Bob Dold is a republican. And we are going to continue letting the voters know that fact.”
Read the entire story of the affair at Crain’s Chicago Business, where you can also see the ad in question.
SRYL Partners Joe Sandler was quoted in a story by The Guardian in the United Kingdom about the rise in importance of lawyers on Election Day. He explains that after the debacle of the Florida recount in the 2000 Presidential elections, a network of attorneys has grown into a “veritable army.” The article explains that in 2004, both campaigns had paid attorneys and volunteers in place in swing states ahead of election day, a model which only expanded in 2008 and 2012.
What will all of these attorneys? Explained Mr. Sandler, “Thousands and thousands of lawyers will be out on election day ferreting out any problems with voting rights.” And should any swing state be too close to call, both campaigns will be ready to litigate.