If you are accustomed to letting a smile be your umbrella, beware! Wal-Mart, the great retail behemoth, is fighting for exclusive rights to the smiley-face logo, as recently reported in the Seattle Times:

Bitter battle brewing over smiley face

For decades, the yellow happy-face symbol has encouraged millions to smile….But a bitter legal battle over smiley could be enough to make the happy little symbol frown.

Wal-Mart Stores, which uses a yellow happy face to try to put its shoppers in a carefree mood, is saying—with a straight face—that it has exclusive rights to the familiar image, at least among retail department stores.

The world’s largest retailer is fighting a French native who has earned millions in licensing fees on smileys 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 this summer….

If Wal-Mart prevails, it could keep its competitors from festooning the symbol on plastic bags, name badges and just about anything else sold in stores. [full text]

Yes, and in the future you just might have to let a smirk be your umbrella. And a number of towns that have adorned their water towers with smiley faces (as documented by Roadside America) might have to dole out some serious cash at Sherwin-Williams. For more on the retailer everyone loves to hate, check out Wal-Mart Watch and Wake Up Wal-Mart.