Monday, January 17, 2005

Mustang Has a Trademark In It

The Associated Press says Lance Gilman bought the famous pink stucco bordello known as the Mustang Ranch and thought he'd gotten a bargain. Which, in that business, is not easy to find.

A variant of the oldest rule in trademarks applies to the oldest profession: When you buy a building, even a really famous one, you don't necessarily buy the good will of the business that was done in it. It's a pretty good bet you didn't buy the trademark good will where -- as here -- you bought the building at auction from the government after the business went down the tubes. Especially when you've hitched it to a semi-wide and moved it closer to home, or, rather, to your "adult resort and spa." (Don't ask -- there must be a children's spa somewhere.)

A federal judge, not surprisingly, has entered an injunction preventing the use of the Mustang Ranch mark by the new owner pending a final trial.

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