Apparently because the Illinois Review used the name of the law firm in a post, the Law Firm of Peter Francis Geraci warned them to stop using the name as it is trademarked.
Never hire the Law Firm of Peter Francis Geraci because that’s a really stupid interpretation of the law. Greg lays it out pretty well.
You can also use your trademarked name for comparing two products or as a parody. For example, to say that you are a poor firm compared to Dowe, Cheatem & How is legal. To say that you are better than they is also legal. It’s appropriate to report on the law firm of Peter Francis Geraci in conjunction with employees or partners making campaign contributions or for that matter not making campaign contributions. We can also say, for example, that last year’s bankrupcty reforms were a good thing for firms such as Peter Francis Geraci, or we can say it was a bad thing for firms such as Perter Francis Geraci. We can also say, Nike, Proctor & Gamble, Exxon and any other number trade names all damn day and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
Mr. Stoolmaker, with the number hits on blogs and their power to shape news, break stories you do your brand identity no good by threatening political activists engaged in political speech. It’s the kind of thing that can make you infamous in a hurry.
Actually, he has pulled off something–getting me to defend the Illinois Review. We’d call that cats and dogs living together in Ghostbusters’ terminology.
The ultimate outcome of this ridiculous claim is that anyone seeking to hire the Law Firm of Peter Francis Geraci now knows that they are incompetent lawyers. Congratulations.
I’m “represented” by the office of Peter Francis Geraci. They have grossly mishandled our bankruptcy case. We wish we had gone with a smaller bankruptcy firm. We are being accused of fraud by the US Attorney’s office because of paperwork completed incorrectly. We just want this NIGHTMARE to end! We believe they do not know basic law.