Posted by Wayne Parham [ 66.139.42.179 ] on September 14, 2005 at 04:24:47:
In Reply to: Re: Trademarks and intellectual property rights posted by MQracing on September 14, 2005 at 02:32:11:
As I said earlier, I'm not an IP attorney but I have some intellectual property and have had several IP issues to deal with. I've spent thousands of dollas obtaining and policing my IP and have had several occasions to discuss legal details. So I know some of the issues, enough to talk about intellectual property rights with a little bit of understanding. I also have a great respect for IP and owners of IP, so if it becomes clear to me that you have trademark on the Peerless name, I'll help you make sure it is respected here.
I can understand your zeal about the Peerless name, but I am concerned that you may not have a valid claim to the trademark. I know for sure that DST has been using the name prior to you, and so I don't think you can actually claim it. As frustrating as this may be, it appears you may have been violating a registered trademark held by Peerless Fabrikkerne all this time. Maybe you were "under the radar," and they simply didn't notice you.
If you would like to send me copies of your documentation, I'll have it checked out. If it's valid, I'll ensure it is respected here. But if your claim isn't valid, my suggestion is to get with an IP attorney as soon as possible and see what your options are. I'll help any way I can because I know how frustrating this can be.
As an aside, remember the Svetlana controversy? The real company is Russian, and is called Светлана, which is Russian, of course. Word has it that New Sensor effectively stole the name, by registering it in America under the table. If true, that's dirty, and even if done without legal opposition, it isn't right because it is taking advantage of people that didn't know better. They weren't in this country and didn't know the rules, or even have experience with these types of intellectual property issues.
So maybe something like that applies in your situation, I don't know. I'm not very familiar with your particular situation but I'm certainly interested and concerned. I think it would be best for everyone involved to come to the table and make things right.
But please remember, Douglas isn't just some kind of pawn. He is pretty good with tube circuits and his wishes should be respected too. If you have legal claim to the name that's one thing, but if it has been eroded or whatever, then you and he should probably make some kind of agreement. I would think if you've been using the name for 16 years that would count for something, but then again, DST has you beat by almost 30 years. This is kind of a tough situation.
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