Just curious – a question for the legal eagles on the board.
The bar at our community clubhouse books small performers on some Saturdays. One of their most frequent performers is a one-man-band who performs under the name Harley David’son. His rationale is simple: his legal first name is Harley and his father’s legal name is David. Hence, Harley David’son. OK, not grammatically correct but you get the idea.
When we saw him last, he told us that he actually received a document from a local Harley-Davidson store informing him that he needs to stop using the name immediately as it is a trademark of Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Inc. If he doesn’t, the dealership will escalate the situation to HD corporate. Do you think (as Vincent Gambini, J.D., Esq. famously asked) there is any case the dealership or Harley-Davidson’s case would hold water?
Well, your basic old people bar that closes at 8:00 pm. It used to be the golf course cafe until they realized that losing money because you don’t know how to run a cafe isn’t good for the golf course. It isn’t a tiki bar but it probably would qualify as a dive.
"It was late in the afternoon when I walked into the Sunland Village East golf course clubhouse. The kind of afternoon where the golfers look tired, the carts look guilty, and the ice machine sounds like it’s filing a complaint.*
The bar is Fat Willy’s, just off Buttercup Ave — with Sossaman and Baseline looming nearby like two streets that have seen too much. A few regulars were already posted up, staring into their drinks the way a man stares at a bill he doesn’t remember running up.
The bartender moved with the confidence of someone who’s poured more cocktails than he’s answered questions. I ordered something cold, legal, and unlikely to require a sworn statement.
If you’re asking whether the bar’s open — it is. And it’s serving drinks strong enough to make even a tee-time dispute seem solvable.
I took my seat. The chair cooperated. That’s when I knew I was in the right place.
Do not practice in this area, but as I understand it trademarks are supposed to protect companies from consumer confusion. I doubt anyone would be confused by this.
My father was a lifelong SLC police officer, a career and lifestyle I could never quite understand, while my younger brother who followed in his footsteps understood him perfectly.
I have no recollection of the exact situation (probably on TV) , but recall watching the Frank Drebin character and afterward having both my father and brother discuss people they both knew on the job who they characterized as exactly that same person.
Sometimes, literature/art, are a perfect mirror of reality.
Edit to say: And after a young life around police, I have not problem with them now. They have their own society, but they are to a person (of those I ever met) working for the best interest of broader society, and nothing else.
