Toys ‘R’ Us Sneaky Trick Loses in Court

In this case Toys ‘R’ Us advertises using a giraffe mascot named Geoffrey. But Toys ‘R’ Us does not own the rights to that mascot, instead Geoffrey, Inc — a Toys ‘R’ Us subsidiary — owns them. So the toy store ‘licenses’ the trademark from Geoffrey, Inc, at a hefty rate, then calls that a business expense and deducts from its pre-tax income. Since Geoffrey, Inc isn’t a Louisiana company, Toys ‘R’ Us argued that it doesn’t need to pay Louisiana taxes on it’s income. The judge disagreed