Trademarks are an important part of business.
You don't have to copy the trademarked name or logo directly to get sued. Even if you just hint at the name, like "McDoofus", you may be in violation of the law. Even if you use your own name. E.g. Hyatt Legal Services, Gerber Foods.
Trademark Dilution - See pg 204-205. Certain trade names are so recognized that no matter what you use the name for, you must cease and desist. E.g. Coca-Cola Motels.
Servicemarks - "Home of the Whopper"
Patents and other intellectual property - trade secrets. Trade espionage is a federal crime. Coca-cola has HFCS, not sugar. KFC just moved their secret recipe to a new safe.
See pg 215 trade secret:
1. not known by competition
2. business would lose its advantage if the competition were to obtain it
3. owner has taken reasonable steps to protect the secret
You make more money from suing infringers than from a patent itself.
Main thing is: you have to be careful when you use a logo or name.
Companies protect their trademark because if they don't, they can lose the right to use it exclusively.
Even if you alter the logo, like taking off the letters from the BMW logo, you can still get sued for infringement.
Intro to Contracts
Your rights and liabilities under agreements.
A contract is an agreement between two or more parties (individuals, corps, partnerships, govts), the breach of which the law affords a remedy.
Not all agreements are enforceable. Not all are legal.
Manifestation of mutual assent. Offer. Acceptance. Must be voluntary. Duress. Undue influence. Must be legal - have a legal purpose. Sometimes people need to be licensed. If not, if the contract enforceable?
Contractual capacity - parties must have capacity, i.e. be 18 yrs old and have mental capacity.
Some contracts must be in writing. Some can be oral or in writing.
Consideration: The quid pro quo. A contract must have consideration. Promises to make gifts are generally not enforceable. Consideration is a legal detriment. the legal sufficiency of consideration.
What happens if you want to change an executed contract.
Every day of your life, you're in a contract.
The owner of property owes a duty of care to invitees for their safety. Ex: Old Orchard shopping center could they be sued when a crime happened there? Did they need to add more security guards? No. Because there had only been 2 violent crimes (one at Mario Tricocci and one food court murder by a fired employee) in the past. Neither was foreseeable, so the owner wasn't liable. You only need to provide the necessary security to protect against foreseeable incidents. See Campisi v Acme Markets when a blind employee with a cane caused a customer to trip.
Bloomingdales in Hartford, CT. It's a high-crime area. A woman was raped and murdered. The family sued Bloomingdales. Bloomies was found to be negligent. Similar situation with a Fotomat.
Trademarks
See page 201. BMW vigorously protects their logo. See the program Illicit (PBS special) about trademark infringement.
Classification of Trademarks:
Arbitrary & Fanciful (preferred by the courts)
Suggestive
Descriptive
Generic
If you don't enforce your trademark, it can become generic. Ex: Aspirin (was originally owned by Bayer).
On Thursday, we will start contracts. This is important!
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