Answer: It depends what is specifically recited in the agreement. If the transferee (receiver of the rights) wants all commercial rights, the agreement should specify that the transferor is transferring or selling or assigning "all commercial rights" not only "trademark rights." The case of JA Apparel v Abboud, 2010 WL 103399 (S.D.N.Y., Jan. 12, 2010), the plaintiff, JA Apparel sued Defendant Abboud because in 2007 Abboud was intending to, or did use his name for commercial purposes of selling clothing, and in 2000, the parties entered into an agreement. In the agreement, Abboud conveyed, "all of [his] right, title and interest in ant to...[t]he names, trademarks, trade names, service marks, logos, insignias...trademark registrations and applications therefor, and goodwill related thereto."
Abboud contended that this did not include all commercial purposes of his name. The Second Circuit Court agreed.
Lesson: If you are receiving trademark rights, it may be a good idea to include in any agreement, that the transferor is also transferring "all commercial uses of the name" or something similar.
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