Stickers and kidney transplants

[Michiel van Wessem <jmvw@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

Don't you have to actually *sell* something to not be allowed to use
kidneys and roundels?

Isn't there a way around that? 

Michiel
________

I am, in fact, a patent and trademark attorney.  There is, of course, an
exception to every rule, and this is also true of trademark laws.  We
need to keep two things in mind here, tho:  First, IF BMW NA goes after
anyone, it won't be us, it will be Richard, who is the one who will have to
pony up the attorney fees, not us, and he has very politely and directly
asked us not to go there.  Second, I have not searched the records of
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to determine what registrations, if
any, BMW owns in the U.S., but even w/o any, they would still have
common law rights, and this gives them standing to sue.

Granted, the publicity would be bad, but as Michel P. has noted, it doesn't
take long to run up LOTS of attorney fees, even if you're right.  Last
year, while representing a local client who manufactured a software
product that mimicked the trademark of a very popular laundry detergent
manufactued and sold by a to-remain-nameless but VERY large home
products manufacturer, we realized that we had every _legal_ right to
mark our product in the manner we had adopted.  However, my client
didn't have to money to prove he was right, and the nameless company
came down on us hard, and we capitulated.

The moral:  Why take the risk of exposing yourself to legal actions if
there's an easy way around it?  If we need to have a logo, I'd suggest
that it would be most pragmatic to stay away from the Roundel.

Chad Klingbeil
Minneapolis, MN
95 M3

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