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In response to
"Can I get an ST legal opinion on something slightly interesting (in the development world)? :)"
by
Beryllium
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God I love trademark law ... .
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If I was representing Azer, my recommended response would be: how much compensation?
I think, Bob was essentially offering to cover the costs of Azer's innocent mistake. He's coming from the business viewpoint: changing a name of a product, even internally, costs money. At least in staff time.
If Bob offered a few hundred or a thousand dollars, my advice to Azer would be "Take the money, change the name, and move on. Now."
If Bob offered $50,000, then my advice to Azer would be: "WTF? This guy is being a huge dick for no good reason, and he's effin' hiding something. Let's sue his ass!"
Also, keep in mind that Bob has a legal duty to "police his mark." As the owner of the trademark, one obligation of maintaining registration is to keep the mark unique. This is why companies send out a cease and desist letter every time your grandma calls it a "Kleenex" rather than a "facial tissue" on Facebook. Or talks about her "Rollerblades" rather than roller skates.
Azer is throwing a temper tantrum, but only because he probably doesn't understand why Bob is (1) coming after him, and (2) offering money to fix the problem. I confront this problem on a monthly basis when helping clients (I still do some moonlighting).
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