For A Good Time, For A Good Time Call….
867-5309. Well, actually, for a plumber call that number, at least in Rhode Island. A plumbing company there trademarked the number and is locked in a legal battle with another plumbing company from Florida over the right to use the number. The case is in Federal court and the Rhode Island company has won the first round.
Now, a Rhode Island company and a national firm are battling over the right to use the number, which doesn't reach the "Jenny" that Tutone sings about, but could find callers a decent plumber.
Two years ago, Gem Plumbing & Heating of Lincoln, R.I., trademarked the phone number in the early 1980s hit, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Gem acquired the number in Rhode Island when its original owner, Brown University, gave up 867-5309 after growing weary of the constant prank calls.
Gem's number works in the 401 area code in Rhode Island and the 617 area code in southern Massachusetts.
But Florida-based Clockwork Home Services, also a plumbing company, uses a toll-free version of 867-5309 in New England. They argue a company can only trademark a vanity number, like 1-800-FLOWERS.
Gem won round one in its legal fight over the number when a federal judge in Boston recently barred Clockwork from using the number in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, effective this week. But Clockwork's lawyers said they would fight on.
One of the founders of the group Tommy Tutone, Tommy Heath, thinks the whole thing is ridiculous. Frankly, I don't really see where either company has a legitimate claim on the number, either. But trademark law is weird. (Contrary to the AP report, Tommy Heath is not "Tommy Tutone". That is the name of the group, not the individual who was once lead singer of the band.)
By Lars Walker, Saturday, 19 May , 2007 @ 2:42 pm
We’ve got a plumbing company here in Minnesota that also has that number. Something about plumbers, I guess.
By Thomas Pfau, Sunday, 20 May , 2007 @ 8:33 am
here’s another that’s been advertising on New Jersey radio stations lately.
By Gaius, Sunday, 20 May , 2007 @ 9:11 am
What is the weird attraction that plumbing companies have for that number?