An 'aha moment'-- Society has gone too far

This editorial appears in the Yakima Herald-Republic on May 5, 2009.

Ever have an "aha moment"? If so, you better be prepared to go to court over your right to enjoy it.

That's where Mutual of Omaha, a mammoth insurance company, and Oprah Winfrey are headed. Both claim rights to the phrase "aha moment" and want the other to essentially shut up.

The syndicated talk show host says she has been using the "aha moment" as a signature phrase in her show for years. Imagine having an "aha moment" without thinking of Oprah? Her attorneys argue that's impossible.

Mutual of Omaha says Oprah's claim to the phrase is causing confusion among future insurance clients because it's part of the company's advertising campaign that started to hit the airwaves in February. To "kick it up a notch," the company filed a lawsuit in federal court last week.

Who would ever have guessed "aha moment" was up for bids? We just assumed it was part of everyday parlance like "groovy" and "awesome." This is a troubling turn of events, and turn of a phrase, if marketing gurus are going to start trademarking popular words and phrases and then hire attorneys to haul people into court for uttering "whatever" whenever they happen to.

Has our litigious society gone a bit overboard? Have we lost our manners here and forgotten to ask ourselves, "Are you OK with this?"

So before another talk show host or corporation slaps a trademark symbol on the next "aha moment" that comes around, we would like to lay claim to these idiomatic gems:

* "empowerment" -- How often is this uttered during a PowerPoint presentation? A million times?

* "It is what it is" -- We calculate the financial wizards at AIG and Merrill Lynch used this ditty often when asked about their overblown bonuses.

* "What's up?" -- We assume the word "Hi" is already taken. This phrase will do as a substitute.

* "24/7" -- After trademarking this, we promise to take it out of circulation -- forever.

* "It's all good" -- We doubt anyone facing a home foreclosure would agree.

* "disemvowel" -- To show we are hip, it would be nice to secure this word, which means to remove the vowels from a word in a text message or e-mail, as in "L8R." Wouldn't that be "XLNT"?

Now we have to figure out how much to charge for each use of our trademarked word or phrase. Then there's enforcement. And attorney's fees.

Uh oh. Here it comes again. One of those costly -- hope you're not reading this, Oprah -- "aha moments."

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Bob Crider, Spencer Hatton and Karen Troianello.

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