Trade name, firm, trade name and raison sociale. Are they all the same?
Trade name, firm, trade name and raison sociale. Are they all the same?

Summary/Abstract: The present study intends to point out the different designations used to indicate business identifiers and verify whether they facilitate the minimization of the two types of transaction costs usually mitigated by such identifiers. Even when the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property was being drafted in the 19th century there were ample debates regarding the need for an international protection for trade names. And even then the reports presented to the Congress then mentioned the fact that national protection for trade names was provided for under various designations and with different scope in the countries that were analyzed. Since the determination of the various designations used has as its starting point the provisions of the Paris Convention an analysis starting from the designations used in France is necessary. A comparison with the terms used in Germany and France is then provided so as to offer a wide array of models for business identifiers that are to be later assessed as against their ability to mitigate transaction costs.

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