The City Council did a service to commerce and free enterprise by largely deregulating taxicabs. Even a one-cab business -- what some in some cities would call a gypsy cabs -- is OK here. (See story from South Bend here, where the council went in the more typical direction of greater regulation.) But even deregulation supporters can get cold feet when the relaxation seems to go too far. Note that it's someone in the regulated industry asking for the regulation, which is typical:
Duke Brown, representing Yellow Taxi Cab, spoke to the council and objected to the letting taxis be any color. The reason is simple: Yellow Taxi Cab has gone to great lengths to identify itself as the yellow-cab company. If another taxi company mimics Yellow Taxi Cab's color, it can become a freeloader on Yellow Taxi Cab's efforts to establish a business identity for itself.
“They can jump right in and benefit from all the money and work we put in
Comments
Well, it IS good to know that our glorious government behemoth isn't trying to regulate people out of a job...or stifle personal entrepreneurship.
Right?
I'm just sayin'...
Someone who publishes newspapers should ask Duke Brown if he isn't infringing on the trademark of the Yellow Cab Manufacturing Company, which became part of General Motors in 1925.
There are dozens of different Yellow Cab companies out there, not related to each other.
Although if I had a taxi company, I'd make mine checkered....
I was thinking the same thing as Harl. I doubt if one out of ten Fort Wayne residents could even list a single local cab company by name. But if you ask them what image first comes to mind when they think about cabs in general, it would probably be yellow (or checkered). It seems he's taking a lot more credit here than his little company is due.
So, suppose Mr. Brown decides to paint checkers as well on his cars and rename the company "The Yellow Checkered Cab." Would he then be entitled to monopolise both categories?