Dumb Lawsuit of the Day

So it seems that Emerson Electric is suing NBC. Why, you ask. Well, it turns out that an Emerson garbage disposal was used in Heroes and one of the protagonists stuck her hand into it and it was (temporarily) mangled. (It's good to be a hero.) According to CNN, Emerson is claiming trademark infringement and that NBC has portrayed their product in a negative way. WHAT?!? By showing that someone who put her hand in a garbage disposal and then turns it on gets hurt--this somehow portrays a product in a bad light. (I'll leave to the side the intellectual property issue although this seems quite flimsy as well.) What it seems is happening--and as the CNN article states--is that Emerson is trying to get some free publicity by filing this law suit. Here's my response--(1) if I were the judge (not that anyone has asked me to be), I would sanction them for this patently frivolous assertion and (2) I urge the three of you reading this not to buy an Emerson garbage disposal (or any other Emerson product). Don't clog the legal system any more with these ridiculous suits. I'm Isaac, Your Bartender, and I approve this message.