Yep - that's right.
Incorporating doesn't hold any legal rights to the name - it's more about
how you are taxed and what happens if you run into financial/legal
problems.
It doesn't give you any rights to the actual name of the organization.
That's the trademark.
However, it does protect your personal finances.
If Derrick has successfully put a trademark on the name then Pop Culture
cannot use it - Derrick's lawyers will issue a cease and desist order.
He essentially will own the image and therefore the festival.
check this info
1. Registering a trademark protects a company's name or logo, which
is often a company's most valuable asset;
2. Registering a trademark grants the trademark owner receives
exclusive nationwide ownership of the mark;
3. Registering a trademark decreases the likelihood of another party
claiming that your trademark infringes upon their trademark;
4. Registering a trademark provides official notice to others that a
trademark is already taken; consequently, a company that later
adopts a confusingly similar trademark can not claim ignorance of
the mark;
5. Through registering a trademark the trademark owner obtains the
future right to make the mark "incontestable," which provides
conclusive evidence regarding the validity of the mark and of the
registrant's exclusive right to use the mark; and
6. Registering a trademark in the United States can be used as a
basis for obtaining registration in foreign countries.
B. Registering a trademark deters others from using your trademark
1. By registering a trademark the trademark owner obtains the right
to put a ", after the mark, alerting others to your registration and
preventing the defense of innocent infringement;
2. By registering a trademark the trademark will appear in trademark
search reports ordered by others, likely discouraging others from
proceeding with the registration of the same or similar mark; and
3. Through registering a trademark the United States Patent and
Trademark Office will refuse registration to any trademarks it deems
confusingly similar to the trademark.
C. Registering a trademark provides the trademark owner with greater
remedies
1. Registering a trademark grants the trademark owner the right to
recover up to triple damages and fees of their trademark lawyer from
an infringer;
2. By registering a trademark the trademark owner receives the
presumption of being the valid owner of the mark;
3. Registering a trademark increases the likelihood of the
successful filing of a dispute resolution policy for an infringing
Internet domain name; and
4. Registering a trademark gives the trademark owner an automatic
right to sue in federal court.
That'll be $450 for my time and services
MEK
"Cyborg K"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "313"
<313@hyperreal.org>, "Carissa Tintinalli" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
lnoize.com> cc:
Subject: RE: (313) more demf
stuff...
01/27/03 07:23 PM
Well, from what I know, incorporating DEMF would simply mean that a
business
named "DEMF, Inc." exists. A trademark, on the other hand, gives you the
right to market a product or services under a given name, like a brand
name,
regardless of the name of the company that is selling the product. So ,
given the information you just gave, I'd guess that Marvin's "DEMF Inc."
would not have any right to market an event called "DEMF" or a product that
says "DEMF (tm)" on it, only May or his company would have that right.
Possibly Marvin could be sued for infringing on the trademark if that
happened. I'm no lawyer but this is my understanding of it. This is only
true if May really owns the DEMF trademark, of course.
/Dave
-----Original Message-----
From: Carissa Tintinalli [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2003 7:48 PM
To: 313@hyperreal.org
Subject: Re: (313) more demf stuff...
My understanding is that Derrick May has 'DEMF' trademarked, while Carol
Marvin has 'DEMF' incorporated.
I know nothing about copyright law, so I'm not sure if one of these cancels
out the other or if they both have equal right to the name.
>From: Mark S. Krüx <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Didn't I read somewhere that May had trademarked 'DEMF' awhile back, > or
>something like that??
>
>This all sounds a quite strange to me...
>
>m*
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