Posted on 07/01/2012 1:16:33 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Instead of letting the free market decide, two Bay Area companies are going to court to settle a long-standing dispute about whether both can be named after the self-made Hank Rearden, a central character in Ayn Rand's opus Atlas Shrugged.
Steve Perlman founded Rearden LLC, a San Francisco tech incubator, in 1999, naming the company after his favorite Rand character. Rearden Commerce, a web-based concierge service that offers customers the "Rearden Personal Assistant," helps organize travel plans and links to many travel vendors. According to the lawsuit, the company's owner, Patrick Grady, "also has an affinity for Rand's 'Hank Rearden' character," and thus gave his business that name in 2005.
After Rearden Commerce registered a few domain names that included the name "Rearden," Rearden LLC filed a federal lawsuit, complaining that the other Rearden was cyber-squatting, among other things. A U.S. judge later sided with Rearden Commerce, saying consumers really weren't going to be confused by the two names, since they offered completely different services.The judge also felt that Rearden Commerce was acting in good faith, and not intentionally cyber-squatting, according to court documents.
However, the Ninth Circuit disagrees, saying the two companies are actually very similar, and have even appeared in the same publications and relied on the same funding sources and investors.
"It takes only a small exercise of imagination to associate this name, made famous in the business community (and elsewhere) as an image or paragon of entrepreneurial success by Rand's highly successful and influential novel, with the incubation of start-up enterprises," according to the opinion authored by Judge Robert Cowen, who sat on the panel.
Of course, there's always a chance that two parties will back out of the case any day now, as they both vow no longer to be participants in the corrupt, freedom-killing society that collectively stomps their individual greatness.
I guess my idea to create a pirate fleet named Danneskjold Repossessions is out.
What an odd city for a fan of Atlas Shrugged to set up shop.
That city has to be the most oppressive city in the country, very much like the United States as portrayed in the novel.
Maybe a repossession firm would be a good fit. That is sort of what Danneskjold was doing. Repossessing looted property from socialist states.
Maybe that WAS the point. Showcase Liberty, with close examples of Oppression at hand. . .
I was thinking the same thing.
Two Atlas fans in San Fran? They must have somehow become displaced.
Rand ping....
Have you heard of New York? SF hasn't banned every food they deem unacceptable. They don't have a mayor who unilaterally gave himself a third term, even though the voters limited mayors to two terms.
Trivial, but humorous.
I admit that it is too close to call.
But SF does have Nacy Pelosi.
Why would they even consider ceding rights to any company from the People’s State of California?
Uh, then they don't have the same name. The mere fact that the company names share a word doesn't make them the same names.
Or exactly the opposite. Who needs a little Rand worse than someone trapped in San Fagcisco?
What breed is Dagny?
She is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi w/ a fluffy coat...the coat is non-standard and requires a recessive gene in both parents.
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