Re: firm's name protection

Some body asked:

>> 
>> The fact is: can the name of a legal firm be protected under copyright 
>> law?  Or is it to be protected under trademark law?

Bruce Hayden responded:
>
> At least here in the U.S., I would first use trademark law, in
> particular, 43(a) of the Lanham Act, which can apply even if you don't
> register the name.

In Australia and England (and I believe Canada) you could use registered trademark law or passing off which is roughly equivalent to unregistered trademark in the US. Passing off requires a business reputation in the jurisdiction in which suite is brought and provides a remedy against defendants who conduct business in a way which might damage the reputation of the plaintiff or cause confusion with their products or services.

>> I think a point is that (at least under my country law) firm's activity 
>> can not be considered as commercial activity, and this leads to the 
>> exclusion of trademark.

Business reputation is broadly interpreted and would certainly cover the name of a law firm.

> At least in the U.S., clearly not copyright. Yes, there may be a little
> expression, but not much. Short phrases are not covered, and in this case
> a short phrase consisting of the names of some of the partners is fairly
> low in the expression catagory.

Definitely not copyright in Australia or England. Exxon tried to protect their name by copyright without success. I can get you the cite but I don't have it handy at the moment.

Tim Arnold-Moore, LL.B. (Melb)      | Multimedia Database Systems, CITRI  |
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