Rally Round the Trade Name Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Rally Round the Trade Name - Essay Example Despite the fact that Gabby’s surname is Rally, it is not lawful for her to use it for her piazza business in the same jurisdiction as occupied by Rally motors. This is because, for one, a trade name is given under two different laws; common law and trade name registration law according to Tatum (2010). Under common law, an individual who first uses a certain trade name in a particular region for a particular purpose has exclusive rights for that name in the particular areas for that specific purpose. As a result, Gabby is not supposed to use her surname in conjunction with her business in the region. Doing this amounts to violating the law and infringing on trade name rights. According to intellectual property law, it is illegal to infringe on a trade name whether one posses the name or not. The issue of trade name protection goes beyond zones of reputation, expansion, and marketing despite being the first to be used in the region. Since Rally is linked with both pizza and motors, it is not a big conflict as it would happen if Gabby had decided to name her car dealership business as Rally Used Cars. It is unlawful for a similar business owner to possess two confusing names for his/ her business. Therefore, there is no problem with Rally’s association with pizza if only she does not use her name confusingly. This is because using this name does not imply that people might confuse pizza with cars. However, when two business uses the same trade name in a similar market region this can lead to a lot of confusion. The truth that Herman started utilizing the name Rally around forty years ago, protects him under both trade name registration law and the under the common law. He is also protected by the fact that he started using the trade name in the region first, before Gabby.