The Columbus Dispatch - Business:


For decades, the yellow happy-face symbol has encouraged millions to smile.

But now a bitter legal battle over smiley could be enough to make the happy little symbol frown.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which uses a yellow happy face as a signature image, is saying that it has exclusive rights to the familiar image, at least among department stores.

It is fighting a French native who has earned millions in licensing fees on smiley’s back since the early 1970s, when he began securing trademarks for the happy face around the world.

The two sides are expected to wrap up their cases before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in the summer, with a ruling sure to bring a smile to one side or another.

If Wal-Mart prevails, it could keep its competitors from festooning the symbol on plastic bags, name badges, balloons, handbags and just about anything else sold in stores, or the ads used to promote them.