Is it legal for an American Company to print my name on T-Shirts without my knowledge or permission ?

expired domain names
Joe Amerlot asked:

I am a writer, inventor and retired anesthesiologist. Searching the Internet, I recently discovered that the Brain Dex Company is selling T-Shirts with my expired patent (including my name), printed on them. I am aware that my patent is now Public Domain. But my name ?



Comments (5)    Posted in Small Business    

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5 Responses to 'Is it legal for an American Company to print my name on T-Shirts without my knowledge or permission ?'

  1. Emperor Norton I - April 9th, 2010 at 3:41 am

    It sounds pretty legal to me. There is no libel or slander going on — no defamation of character, and your name is not a copyright or trademark.

  2. milton b - April 11th, 2010 at 9:01 am

    Unless you took out a copyright on your patent the T-shirt company is in the clear.

  3. OS/2 - April 13th, 2010 at 5:44 pm

    what does the t-shirt have on it?

    but i guess its legal if its an expired patent
    but there are other people with your name too probably

  4. Smilin'_Bob_The_Enzyte®_Guy - April 17th, 2010 at 3:36 am

    Sorry to say, but in most cases ..yes…

    It could be argued that if you were not that “famous” when your patent was still in effect, that the “use’ of your name for commercial purposes could be restricted..

    Simply have your attorney send them a “cease and desist’ letter, offering to LICENSE the use of your name for a certain “fee”.

    They can pay the fee and you make money, or you can regain control of the use of your name, at least for commercial purposes…

    If your patent is of historical significance ( example Thomas Edison and the incandescent light bulb), all bets are off, and public use of your name is pretty much “fair game”…

  5. Kasey C - April 19th, 2010 at 7:01 pm

    Unless you trademarked your name you have no legal resource.

    The Phllip K. **** estate wants to sue Google for using the words “Nexus One” because “Nexus 6″ was one of the androids in Blade Runner / “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”. Unfortunately, they have no trademark on the name. (Motorola paid George Lucas to use “droid” because Lucas DID trademark the term)


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