@wjstix posted:I'm 99.9% sure BNSF will win the case - assuming the airline doesn't just agree to drop the name first. As I said, a company name isn't like the brand name of a cigarette or candy bar. A company has to register with the federal government and in each state that it serves, so it can pay withholding for its employees, pay sales tax and social security, file corporate tax returns etc. You can't just grab a name of a company and start using it as your own. I don't think it really matters if BNSF can prove damage or not, it just has to prove that it is the legal holder of the name. Basically every time a BNSF train runs on a former NP line, it's showing it's still operating it, especially the trackage located on the federal and state land grants NP was given.
I'm 99% sure you know almost nothing about trademark law. A company name is EXACTLY like the brand name of a cigarette or candy bar. Its a "MARK" used in "TRADE", hence the name. Having a name in one narrow field doesn't give you any rights of the use of the name in an unrelated field. It's quite possible for a trademark to be registered in several different fields at the same time, however "Northern Pacific" wasn't. It was ONLY registered for use in "Railway Transportation Services". And I'm 100% positive Northern Pacific Railroad hasn't issued a paycheck in over 50 years (despite that having NOTHING to do with the trademark). The ONLY reason why "heritage" engines exist is so the corporations can keep alive trademarks (Simply running an engine over their former trackage doesn't suffice), but the trademarks for most of the "fallen flags" are, in most cases, only registered for "Railway Transportation Services".
