Interferenţe ale dreptului la nume al persoanei fizice şi dreptul la marcă înregistrată
Interferences between the right to a person’s name and the right to a registered trademark

Summary/Abstract: We often tend to mix up similar legal categories, unconsciously transitioning from one legal field or branch to another, despite the differing rules that apply. Sometimes, even the case law guides us toward such an approach, a risky, error prone, yet necessary and inevitable process.It is the role of the legislator and the judge (who not only applies the law but also interprets it) to draw boundaries, delineations, and rules to resolve such situations and reconcile overlapping legal domains. A fundamental principle handed down from Roman law is specialia generalibus derogant, or conversely, generalia specialibus non derogant. In this article, we aim to address such a cross disciplinary issue, starting from a case study that is not unique in Romanian case law. What happens when the name of a natural person overlaps with a registered trademark? We will analyze the specific nature of the name as an identifying attribute of a natural person, a non patrimonial right guaranteed by law, and the protection afforded by special legislation to the registered trademark used in a similar commercial professional activity, in the context of spouses undergoing divorce proceedings. Naturally, such a discussion on substantive law may also raise procedural issues, such as the specific means of protection or the intervention of third parties (principal or accessory) who can justify a legitimate interest in the civil process.

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