November 12, 2008
Who owns a trademark?
Who really owns a trademark? The company that holds the registration or the company that uses the trademark?
That's going to be the issue in In re Goen Technologies, Inc., the bankruptcy case for the distributor of the TrimSpa diet pill. Originally filed in New Jersey as a Chapter 11 case, the case converted to Chapter 7 in September. Now, according to a news story in NJ.com, the Chapter 7 trustee has a million dollar offer to purchase the TrimSpa mark. There is a catch however. The mark itself is registered to an affiliated company, Nutrimerica, which is not in bankruptcy.
The chapter 7 trustee has filed a complaint with the New Jersey bankruptcy court asking the Court to determine that the bankruptcy estate, which used the mark, is the proper owner of the mark. Since trademark rights are acquired through use, its possible that under the right set of facts the trustee may have something to sell.
That's going to be the issue in In re Goen Technologies, Inc., the bankruptcy case for the distributor of the TrimSpa diet pill. Originally filed in New Jersey as a Chapter 11 case, the case converted to Chapter 7 in September. Now, according to a news story in NJ.com, the Chapter 7 trustee has a million dollar offer to purchase the TrimSpa mark. There is a catch however. The mark itself is registered to an affiliated company, Nutrimerica, which is not in bankruptcy.
The chapter 7 trustee has filed a complaint with the New Jersey bankruptcy court asking the Court to determine that the bankruptcy estate, which used the mark, is the proper owner of the mark. Since trademark rights are acquired through use, its possible that under the right set of facts the trustee may have something to sell.
Labels: trademarks, TrimSpa
¶ 8:38 AM
