When hedge funds try to own commonly used ideas

Last fall, LeBron James garnered some laughs when he tried (but, ultimately, failed) to trademark the phrase “Taco Tuesday.”

Common sense won out as we collectively thought, “you can’t own what every 6th grader looks forward to the most every month hahaha.”

Investor turned writer Mario Gabriele — a friend of The Hustle — is going through a similar ordeal with a $6B hedge fund (Durable Capital).

Gabriele co-wrote an essay about high-performing stocks

He called these companies “compounders” capable of going from “good to great” following years of consistent returns.

Common sense would dictate that these are words used by normal human beings, and can’t be copyrighted by some faceless corporation.

Being that it’s 2020, common sense… well, there is none anymore.

That $6B hedge fund is threatening legal action…

… if Gabriele continues to use terminology and concepts related to these high-performing stocks.

Mind you, Gabriele is a one-man newsletter operation that is currently bringing in $0.

We have 2 thoughts.

1. Compounders. Compounders. Compounders. Compounders.
2. If you want to enact some karmic justice and — more importantly, get amazing business analysis including pre-IPO deep dives — subscribe to Gabriele’s substack, The Generalist.

In sum: compounders, compounders, compounders.