Atlanteknology - Technology News for Atlantic Canada

Wyrd Stuff - What's in a business name?

I wrote an article a number of years ago on the pitfalls relating to business names. It is unfortunate but the issue comes up so often that I think it needs to be discussed again (and again).

This post is prompted by the recent Harry Potter movie. In it (so I'm told) there is a band which (in the books) is called the Wyrd Sisters. Well, it so happens that there is a real band in western Canada called the Wyrd Sisters.

The real band did not want the movie to be played in Canada as they claimed the movie was creating confusion and unwanted association. The band ultimately lost the battle to stop the movie from coming to Canada but probably won the war due to all the publicity around the matter.

There is also the ongoing case in Nova Scotia involving a fight between two moving companies over the name "Premiere".

When you are selecting a business name, make sure you think about the name and whether you are going to run in to problems in the future. Now, as a matter of procedure, the Companies Office in Nova Scotia (and elsewhere) will run searches to see if there are other companies with the same or similar names and/or trade-marks etc. with your proposed name but it is important to note that this process is not fool proof and the process only relates to whether the business name can be registered with the provincial company registry. It has virtually nothing to do with trade-marks.

Further, think about the future of your business name. If you are not planning on doing business anywhere other than your local jurisdiction then this may not be a consideration. If you are, then you can save yourself some headache by having someone do a professional search on the name you want.

If you want a name and you want to fully protect it, discuss with your advisers the usefulness of both business name registrations and trade-mark registrations.

Copyright in software

There was an interesting case from back in February 2005 which I thought I would comment on. Its called Courier Complete Inc. v. Fraidakis (40 CPR (4th) 50 is the case reference).

The defendant was a programmer and an employee of the plaintiff. He wrote a dynamic link library "DLL" for the Plaintiff's business. He was not asked to do it directly but he used information supplied by the Plaintiff's President. He also contacted the Plaintiff's clients in building the DLL.

The defendant tried to claim that he owned the DLL and that he wrote it on his own time.

The court granted the Plaintiff's request for an injunction preventing the defendant from selling, copying or distributing the DLL until the trial.

I did a search a few moments ago and no final decision has been made. Its possible the case is still in the system. It could be, however, that the case was settled. I'll keep you posted.

Medmira - TXSV Venture 50

I saw an article today in the Chronicle Herald about Mermira (link to the company provided in the sidebar on the right of your screen).

The company has been named in the 2005 TSXV Venture 50, a new ranking of Canada's top emerging public companies. The ranking is created using an analysis of one year revenue, Return on Investment, market capitalisation growth, and trading volume.

Congratulations to Medmira!

Lego - No longer a kid's toy

I remember playing with Lego when I was a kid. My kids still play with Lego. They play with Megabloks as well. The two types of building pieces are mixed up in a giant wooden box. Our son has a large collection.

So, I have been following the legal saga of Lego vs. Megabloks almost as much as the marketing saga. The battle boils down to this - Lego claims it has the right to prevent Megabloks from using the form of building block which many of us know so well.

Now, there are differences between the two and you have people swear by one or the other. However, the legal question was whether Lego had trade-mark rights in the shape of the building block.

The Supreme Court of Canada said no. The shape of the block was a functional characteristic. The shape allowed the blocks to be stacked. The purpose of a trade-mark is not to interfere with the the competitive use of utilitarian features of a product.

On top of the that, the Court took a dim view of Lego's attempt to maintain a monopoly over building bricks. Lego's patents had expired and it was trying to do away with its competition using trade-mark law in the place of patent law. Nice try. A for effort.