united-states intellectual-property canada trademark business
Use of a trademark instead of a business name
<p>Can a trademark name be used instead of a business name in legal information such as web-site and product copyright notices, EULAs, Terms Of Use, Privacy Policy, etc., provided that the actual business and trademark registration and ownership information is published on the web-site in a separate section?</p>
<p>In particular, the statements of concerns for me are:</p>
<ul>
<li>&quot;<em>... the agreement between You and TRADEMARK(R)</em>&quot; vs &quot;<em>... the agreement between You and BUSINESS</em>&quot;</li>
<li>&quot;<em>... the TRADEMARK(R) is not responsible</em>&quot; vs &quot;<em>... the BUSINESS is not responsible</em>&quot;</li>
<li>&quot;<em>... Copyright (C): TRADEMARK(R), YEARS</em>&quot; vs &quot;<em>... Copyright (C):  BUSINESS, YEARS</em>&quot;</li>
</ul>
<p>It's for US/Canada.</p>

<p>It's best to use formal names in legal documents.
For example, Ringo Starr's musical compositions are credited to Richard Starkey.</p>
<p>If you have a business that wishes to do business under a name other than its legal name, you can investigate d/b/a (&quot;doing business as&quot;) designation.  For the purpose of a single contract or other document, you can usually include language that designates a name for the business such as &quot;this agreement is between Full Name Incorporation, Inc, hereinafter known as Trademark®, and....&quot;</p>
<p>You shouldn't do any of this in real life, however, without first discussing it with your lawyer.  If you believe that there is business value in calling your company &quot;Foo&quot; when its actual name is &quot;Bar Corp,&quot; then surely that value warrants some expense to find a lawyer who will defend the validity of the company's contracts in court, should that become necessary.</p>

<p>Referring to your business in a contract, in any other term than what it was incorporated as in its founding documents is a bad idea. Generally speaking, there is a rule that a court will construe ambiguous contract terms against the drafter of the agreement.</p>
<p>This only applies when one party is in a superior bargaining position. If both parties are in a similar bargaining position then the courts will have to decide what was the intent of both parties when going into the agreement.</p>
<p>At this stage, you will enter the Wild Wild West of hearsay, if, and or butts. Really you need assurances when entering into business agreements.</p>
<p>This can be potentially disastrous for a business if some agreement it relied on for business fell through. There is also the option for a contract to be deemed void if the terms could be proven ambiguous. This is another option that can be disastrous for a business.</p>
<p>Yes, you are of course free to make contracts with any language you wish, but you should avoid ambiguity in contracts as far as possible.</p>
