Q: Can I use my deceased cousin’s business name and logo for myself? I checked to see if it was registered and it is not. I know that my dear departed cousin would like his name to be carried on and kept in the family as it always has been.
Sep 27 2006
Answered by: Peter Done Ask a question
This is not our area of law, so we asked our colleagues at www.loven.co.uk (Patent Attorneys) for their advice and this is what they said:
‘We presume that you wish to use your late cousin's business name and logo for the same business - i.e. that you wish to continue the same business or closely associate a new business with the old one. If this is so, you will need to seek a formal assignment from the legal representative of the deceased of any common law rights acquired in the name and logo by your late cousin's business - effectively the goodwill in the business built up through trading over a number of years - as well as the copyright in the logo design (assuming that there is some design element to the logo, and not just the name in a fancy font). You may need to find out who designed the logo and confirm that the designer assigned copyright in it to your cousin.
You should certainly consider obtaining registration of the name and logo as trade marks, once you have established your rights in them, to confirm ownership of them - this will make it easier to keep them in the family in the future. Consult a qualified trade mark attorney (see www.itma.org.uk for details of qualified people in your area) about this’.
Comments