I recall the story of a restaurant owner in the Midwest who for years 
owned a restaurant bearing his name.  His last name was MacDonald.  The 
corporation sued and made him change the name of his restaurant.  I recall a 
similar problem with a café owner named Star Buck.  So, even if you have not 
yet trademarked your name, somebody else may have.

Cheers,

Karl L. Wuensch


-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Palij [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2011 4:26 PM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
Cc: Mike Palij
Subject: [tips] Have You Trademarked Your Name Yet?

A curious story is out in the popular media about a couple of people who are 
trying to trademark their names because, as one article points out, a person's 
name is their brand.  For one article on this point, see:

http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/print/content/view/print/361422 

Quoting from the article:

|"Everybody's name is sort of their brand, and once it gets associated 
|with goods or services, then it functions as a trademark," Marshall 
|Nelson, a Seattle attorney specializing in copyright, trademark and 
|other intellectual property issues, told the Associated Press. Once a 
|name is trademarked, he said, it gives the holder additional remedies 
|to recover profits and damages if someone uses the name inappropriately.

College professors clear provide a service and their schools might even feature 
specific teachers as a draw (City University of New York has done this with 
subway ads).  Certain Tipsters certain seem to be a "brand", such as in "he 
wrote a 'Michael Sylvester(tm)' post".

Maybe once a professor's name is trademarked, they can charge the college for 
using it anywhere (i.e., course descriptions, course listing, faculty listing, 
etc.).  Why, it might open up a whole new revenue stream for faculty! ;-)

-Mike Palij
New York University
[email protected]


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