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What if someone trademarked your name?


Just Jack

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Ignore the political aspects of the following article....

 

http://news.yahoo.com/sarah-palin-sarah-palin-politician-trademarks-name-082008334.html

 

and ask yourself, what if someone trademarked your name, so that you could not use it in some aspects of your life, like opening a business. I know there's a doctor (not sure the exact type, but he's in the political field) with the same name as mine. But it hasn't caused any issues like the girl in the article.

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Ignore the political aspects of the following article....

 

http://news.yahoo.com/sarah-palin-sarah-palin-politician-trademarks-name-082008334.html

 

and ask yourself, what if someone trademarked your name, so that you could not use it in some aspects of your life, like opening a business. I know there's a doctor (not sure the exact type, but he's in the political field) with the same name as mine. But it hasn't caused any issues like the girl in the article.

 

Anyone who drinks Bully Hill wine and has read the label has probably seen references to Walter S. [blacked out]. Thirty years ago, Taylor Wines, Inc. successfully got an injunction against the owner of Bully Hill using his full name - Walter S. Taylor - in any connection with the wine industry.

 

So there's ample precedent...but trademark law seems to recognize narrowness of use: if you went into politics like your like-named doctor, and he trademarked the name, you could be barred from using yours. But if you ran a pizzeria under your name, he'd have a much weaker case. Ditto "student" Sarah Palin, who wouldn't necessarily be infringing on a trademark unless she went into "public speaking" or "motivational speaking" or "professional general nuttiness" or whatever "political" Sarah Palin calls whatever it is she does.

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There is a linebacker on one of the New Jersey teams who shares my name. That's not uncommon, I'm sure, except that I have a fairly uncommon first and last name.

 

If I trademarked my name, do you think I could cash in? You know, since I like watching football, and this guy plays football?

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Neither of my first or last name is trademarker friendly. However at my place

of employment,human resources has us use our first name,our middle inital and our last name. Mine winds up being KGB.

 

I love me some KGB. :flirt:

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Went to high school with a Dennis Sinatra.

He opened a restaurant on the Strip in Vegas.

That's right, "Sinatra's".

He got sued by Ol' Blue Eyes.

They reached a settlement.

The name of the restaurant was changed in exchange for some dough and a few arms left intact.

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Remember when this happened to Kareem Abdul Jabbar, running back for the Dolphins?

 

From Wikipedia:

Name controversy

 

In 1995, the Muslim Sharmon Shah was given the name "Karim Abdul-Jabbar" by his Imam. The new name he was given quickly garnered major attention upon his NFL debut. Some commentators mistakenly believed that he was the son of former basketball great, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. (The latter has a son named Kareem)[citation needed] He also wore number 33, the same number that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had made famous.

 

The name controversy was periodically spoofed on postgame recaps, such as in 1996 when Chris Berman of ESPN called an Abdul-Jabbar touchdown rush with an imitation of Marv Albert, who was famous for announcing basketball as well as football games.[1]

 

In 1998, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar filed a lawsuit against Karim, stating that there were too many similarities between the two. In the lawsuit, Kareem listed that they both attended UCLA and both wore the #33. He felt that Karim was making profits and sponging off the name and number he made famous in the 1970s. He won a court order that required Karim to drop the "Abdul-Jabbar" name off his jersey. In addition, all Dolphins jerseys with the "Abdul-Jabbar" name and #33 were immediately pulled from the shelves and merchandising catalogs. Karim complied and had his name changed to simply 'Abdul'. Karim maintains that he chose the #33 as his uniform number not because of Kareem, but because of former Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett. After the lawsuit, he changed his name to Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar in 2000.[2]

[edit] Notes

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