Question 1:
The definition of trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner. The three elements of a trademark infringement claim are 1.) An unauthorized use, 2.) A protectable property interest that creates and 3.) A likelihood of confusion among consumers as to the source or origin of the goods or service. The two cases we discussed in class for trademark infringement were the Indianapolis Colts case and Dodgers Sports Bar case. In the Indianapolis Colts case the NFL permitted the “Baltimore Colts” to move to Indianapolis and the team was renamed the “Indianapolis Colts”. Nine years later the CFL granted a franchise to a Baltimore team. They named the team the “Baltimore Colts” and the NFL threatened to sue. The CFL Baltimore team changed their name to the “Baltimore CFL Colts”. After this happened the “Indianapolis Colts” sued the new CFL team in Federal Court for trademark infringement based on misappropriation and consumer confusion. This case was based off of likelihood of confusion among consumers because if a fan were to want to buy Colts gear they would think these teams are the same thing and would eventually figure out that they weren’t the same team. The second case we discussed in class was the Dodgers Sports Bar case. In this case the Los Angeles Dodgers sued a bar in Los Angeles for naming the sports bar “The Brooklyn Dodgers Sports Bar”. They sued them because they had “Dodgers” in the name of their sports bar. The name Dodgers belonged to the Los Angeles Dodgers and was not allowed to be used anywhere else in association with sports. This sports bar sold burgers and hot dogs and everything you normally can get at a baseball...
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...l in their business practices by having child labor, and sexual abuse taking place in their Asian factory. To make matters worse on top of that, a report came out about these conditions in order to keep their Colligate business partners they sent a false document to them saying that these story's were not true when they actually were. If this is not an unethical practice, then I am not really sure what you consider an unethical practice.
Another factor that comes to play in this case was whether the practice violates public policy. When violating a public policy Which in this case it does because it is illegal to send false documents in order to gain or keep contracts.
Conclusion- After analyzing this case, I believe SKETCHERS would be guilty of unfair competition/unfair trade practices after violating public policy being unethical with their business practices.
... sensitive...for decades we had the Washing Bullets and Abe Pollin on his own changed the name in 1997 because of the high murder rate in D.C. Guess What? The world did not spinning.” (qtd in Sports The Indian Wars, 4). So just because a team name changes does not mean the violence that goes along with my name, and my feelings toward the teams will change as Schwartz implied. The world does not adapt to traditions being changed. If the world feels a certain way about something, they will go on feeling that way no matter what happens.
In the past few years, the controversy over Native American and other racial sport names or mascots have become an uproar. The main sport teams that are being targeted due to controversial mascots are programs having names dealing with Native Americans. Many teams are well known programs such as the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, and the Washington Redskins. The Redskins are receiving the most heat from racial groups. According to Erik Brady of USA Today “The volatility surrounding such names has amped up in the year since Daniel Snyder, owner of Washington's NFL club, told USA TODAY Sports that he'd never change his team's name: ‘NEVER — you can use caps.’” (3). However, professional teams are not the only teams receiving negative remarks,
There is considerable controversy that dates back to the 1960’s over sports teams’ names that reference Native American heritage. “The National Congress of American Indiana’s (NCIA) created a campaign in 1968 to eliminate stereotypes found in print and other media.” (ChangeTheMascot.org). The American Indian community has worked for many years to abolish the right to use Native American Names, spiritual and cultural symbols by professional sports teams (Teters) that they feel offensive. The Washington Redskins football team continues to battle a long standing controversy to change their name. Native Americans, politicians, fans of American football, as well as the general public all seem to have opposing viewpoints regarding if this team should be forced to change their name out of respect to those offended.
Maybe it would be a little different if people would have spoken up about their problem with it closer to the first few years they had named the team. According to all the stats and articles that have been provided to me for this, not a team with a native name's meaning to use it in a negative or racial way.Asking a pro sports team to change the name of their team is asking for a lot. “It absurd...Anyone who finds this offensive is just looking to cause chaos” said Jay Gruden. As the coach of the Washington Redskins says. “No group of people will ever talk the washington Redskins into changing our name”, they will represent the name proud as they have the past 79
As I explored the internet for articles on unethical organizations, it is not hard to find a long list of examples. Tyco International captured my interest the most since I saw their name mentioned numerous times in articles, and Air Products utilizes the company as a vendor in Asia. Tyco was ranked number five on The Richiest.com website’s top ten corporate scandal list. In addition, a few other familiar companies listed included BP Oil, Xerox, WorldCom, and, of course, Enron as number one.
Their organizational initiatives are often self-serving; however, the emerging workforce isn’t motivated by selfish managers. This selfish behavior often turns into unethical conduct. Unethical dealings in the workplace are always wrong. It is crucial to promote ethical behavior. Everyone must understand that once caught, unethical behavior is not just a problem for those directly involved, it is everyone’s problem.
Ultimately, ethics are of great importance within a company as they determine the long range success of the company. Wal-Mart should reevaluate what they consider ethical standards as they may not succeed in being the huge retailer they’re aiming to be.
You see Native American team names and mascots everywhere in sports: middle schools, high schools, colleges and professional teams. In fact, 900 teams in the United States use Native American terms (Potenza). Over the past couple years, Native American groups began to protest, sue, and ask teams with Native American nicknames to change their names, mascots, and logos. For instance, in 2014, many groups have protested against the NFL and the Washington Redskins, to change their name. Many people believe that Native American nicknames belong in sports. Those people believe that using a Native American name brings tradition and honor to the tribes they support. However, those nicknames are racist and humiliate Indians. Sports teams using Native
A trademark is most often known as a symbol, word, or phrase that is used in commerce to distinguish a particular seller’s wares from that of another ("Trade-marks Act")( Wensley & Caraway). The protection of trademarks within the Canadian trademark law is not only emphasized within the Trade-marks Act, but also decreed under common law, similarly known as the rulings dictated by federal judiciaries ("Canadian trademark law"). This implies that trademarks can either be registered under the Act, or safeguarded by a common law action called “passing off.” Passing off is a crucial mean of protecting a registered trademark through section 7(b) and 7(c) of the Act that deliberates the tort of such a regulation ("Canadian trademark law"). Both statutes ensure the protection of not only trademarks but also certification marks, distinctive marks, proposed marks, service marks, and distinguishing guises against perpetrators who either defraud the goodwill of these marks or generate confusion in relation to it. For a plaintiff to prove that trademark infringement has occurred, he/she needs to illustrate either the existence of goodwill within the market area, that the defendant’s use of mark or trade name exemplified the misrepresentation of wares, or that such falsification caused harm to the organization ("Canadian trademark law"). The owner of the trademark has an advantage through Section 19, 20, and 22 of the Act, which sanction for the exclusive rights to the mark throughout Canada in relevance to the products and services it was generated for, prohibiting the distribution of wares in association with a confusing trademark by unapproved individuals, and/or obstructing non-owners from using the mark in a manner that may result in the v...
Within a company, illegal practices can be seen by many as the “in thing” and the people working within that environment may not see what they are doing as morally wrong. The issue of the lack of media coverage of these types of crimes must also not be overlooked.
The primary purpose of the “Statute of Frauds” (SOF) is to protect the interests of parties once they are involved in litigating a contract dispute (Spagnola, 2008). The relevant statutes are reliant upon state jurisdictions to determine whether the contract falls under the SOF, and whether the writing of the contract satisfies the requirements of the statute of frauds (Spagnola, 2008). However, all contracts are not covered under the SOF. In essence, for a contract to be deemed as legal by definition of the SOF, there must be verification of the following requirements for formation of the contract, which are as follows: (1) There must be least two parties to the contract, (2) There must be a mutual agreement and acceptance on the price to pay for goods and services offered, (3) The subject matter or reason for entering the contract, must be clearly understood by all parties to the contract, (4) and there must be a stipulated time for performance of duties under the contractual obligations (Spagnola, 2008). Lastly, there are five categories of contracts that are covered under the SOF, which are as follows: (1) The transfer of real property interests, (2) Contracts that are not performable within one year, (3) Contracts in consideration of marriage, (4) Surtees and guarantees (answering to the debt of another), and (5) Uniform Commercial Code (U.C.C.) provisions regarding the sale of goods or services, legally valued over five hundred dollars ($500.00) (Spagnola, 2008).
Disney hired Sturdy Products to produce toy cars, but Disney did not know the unethical practices Sturdy Products used to produce these toy cars. According to Business Insider, “Workers were as young as 14 years old. Worked frequent excessive overtime. Worked in abusive working environment. Employees were shouted at and denied medical attention. The company had poor safety regulations. Were hiding poisons during audits. The staff was being paid to lie about factory conditions.” (Johnson, Robert)This was taken place in 2011.
WorldCom and Enron are just two of the many companies who used unethical accounting behavior this writer will discuss. Both corporations, leaders in their respective fields, were both caught up with corporate greed which will lead to the inevitable downfall for each of them.
The basic law of a contract is an agreement between two parties or more, to deliver a service or a product. And reach a consensus about the terms and conditions that is enforced by law and a contract can be only valid if it is lawful other than that there can’t be a contract. For a contract to exist the parties must have serious intentions, agreement, contractual capacity meaning a party must be able to carry a responsibility, lawful, possibility of performance and formalities. Any duress, false statements, undue influence or unconscionable dealings could make a contract unlawful and voidable.
...orking environments for their factory employees. Even with international groups and organizations keeping a constant watch on companies who outsource work to impoverished countries, there is often little that can be done to control these companies. Lack of local enforcement and overlooked international law makes it easy for money-hungry companies to get away with morally wrong behavior. By bringing attention to these types of situations and not supporting companies who do not treat their workers fairly, executives will be hit where it hurts them the most, their pockets. When their profits decrease, they will be forced to look for alternatives to manufacture their products.