Assignment #5 - Rally Round the Trade Name

Assignment #5 - Rally Round the Trade Name

Question 1: Explain whether or not the fact that Gabby's surname is Rally gives her right to use it any way she wishes.

No. you obviously have a right to keep your own legal name. The issue starts to generate when you use your name in the context of commerce. In commerce, it makes no distinction whether you use your real name or any other name. For that, the violation of law occurs when you are infringing on others trade name. The issue here focuses on intellectual property. According to regulations, trade name rights can be acquired either by (1) a common law, or (2) registration of trade name (Beckman, 2009). Common law describes that the person who initially uses his name or any other name as a trade name in any particular geographical constituency for business purpose has the elite rights to that trade name in that region (Beckman, 2009). Rights to trade name can also be obtained by registering the name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or the relevant secretary of State. This class of registration restricts any other person or entity from using the trade name already registered in the jurisdiction after the date of registration. In this scenario, if the trade name Rally already registered with the business “Rally Motors” in the books of common law or the federal law, than Gabby has no rights to use that name as her business or trade name. Infringing upon someone else trade name is unlawful and punishable. So, Gabby must be aware about the situation and avoid using her surname as the trade name for her business.

Question 2: Explain whether or not it matters that Rally is associated with pizza.

No, it does not. The use of trade name does not depend on the nature of business, and it is not the case that Rally association with pizza. The key is the name “Rally” which is the registered trade name. In the context of law and business, two businesses that use the similar trade name in the same market arena can create confusion among people. In the video, the trade name Rally associated with motor as well as pizza, and many customers got confusion while placement of orders for pizza at a car dealership (Olson Jr, 2009). In my opinion, the first issue is that this situation creates confusion among consumes. Secondly, there is marketing advantage to pizza restaurant over Rally motors with the trade name Rally, because Rally motor spent thousands of dollars to advertise for its shop, which benefit Rally pizza because of the same location, and without any expenses of advertisement. This also benefits Rally pizza when costumers hear about Rally motors and make an association with Rally pizza. So, the effect in association with the trade name Rally benefits goes to pizza shop instead of Rally motors.

Question 3: Explain how important fact is that Herman started to use the ...