Re: A thought-provoking question for legality re: my business name...

Posted by Joe Santana On 2012/3/24 13:42:38

That's precisely what I referenced.

When hobby trademarks fall into the hands of a business, lawyers from This is Mine and That is Yours get involved. Most of the Packard trademarks are in the hands of PAC, and that's good. Members influence decisions about usage. I would like to know who has been refused by PAC to use trademarks held by the club. What are the criteria for denial.

I've named companies and designed corporate identity, but all too often we see "loving hands at home" logos copying trademarks of establish businesses because they are too lazy to come up with something original. The original businesses have built equity in the name and look. That's what newcomers are trying to leverage. It's theft. When someone infringes on that, they should be denied.

We were all just a little too sleepy on the PMCC deal. In a club, your word is your bond. Your credibility is your stock in trade. There's even a fair amount of transparency. But copyrights expire. Lack of usage weakens claims. When that does happen, we hope for benevolence, not problems. Usage, those ads by PMCC, strengthen its claim. Even if they don't have a car to sell. It would be a magnanimous gesture for PMCC to offer those rights to PI or PAC in exchange for some costs, granted licensing solely for itself, and restrictive non-profit use only for others. It would mean a huge amount of goodwill for PMCC.

I would have to love Packard even more than I do to want to invest in resurrecting it and trying to design a modern automobile befitting the name and reputation. That soured somehow. Did Packard owners have a part in that? I don't know, but gee, when I read critical remarks about The Request, I can see how opinion can shape perceptions. Maybe PMCC experienced that. We're all automobile designers. The running board side moldings I bought from Gullickson were expensive, but high quality. There are vendors who re-manufacture Packard parts that, in my opinion, fall a ways short of Packard quality, authenticity, design and manufacture of the original part. The moldings I bought look beautiful on the car. It's too bad we have to fight over something we all care about. Too bad the wisdom of Solomon isn't available in these divisive times.

I can't remember the name of the comic who did the routine about trying to save someone who intended to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. He tried to save him by pointing out all the things they had in common, which gradually got down to the fact that they were from the same town and both members of the same religion, however, once the rescuer discovered that the jumper was from the church on the west side of town instead of the east side of town, he said, "Die heretic!"