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million price was ultimately used by the parties to the
transaction after $50 million had been considered and $100
million asked. Petitioners’ and respondent’s pre- and post-trial
experts attempted to support all of these values and a myriad of
amounts falling in between.8
One of the underlying disputes regarding the value of the
DHL trademark rights involves whether DHL owned the worldwide or
merely the U.S. rights. Most of the documents and evidence show
or state that DHL owned all of the rights. DHLI’s general
counsel, beginning in the mid to late 1980’s, however, maintained
that DHLI owned the rights to the trademark outside the United
States. The parties here provided expertise supporting both
positions, and we have considered each.
A trademark is a marketplace device by which consumers
identify goods and services and their source. In the context of
trademark nomenclature, a trademark symbolizes “goodwill” or the
likelihood that consumers will make future purchases of the same
goods and services. In a licensing arrangement, the goodwill
symbolized by the trademark is owned by the licensor, even though
created by the licensee’s efforts. See, e.g., Cotton Ginny, Ltd.
v. Cotton Gin, Inc., 691 F. Supp. 1347 (S.D. Fla. 1988).
8 To some extent, it seems that the experts’ willingness to
support such disparate values is one of the reasons for the
escalation and protraction of the controversy in these cases.
Indeed, the difference between $20 million and $600 million may
be sufficient spoils to incite and inspire the meekest and least
confrontational amongst us.
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