Clan MacEvil

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I'm curious why you didn't like it.

Because it implies that the only standard is the gold standard, and that is probably the least desirable standard of all.

Would you rather that some stuffy and pretentious individual be in charge of deciding which tartans he will allow and which ones don't meet his own personal standards?

Yes. Irrespective of whether he was stuffy and pretentious or not, by virtue of the fact that he represents a regulatory authority his decisions should be based on something other than collecting a fee from anyone without due regard to the rights -- latent or active-- of other parties. In other words he should do his job to make sure that the registered design and name to not transgress the rights of others. I don't see how one can really object to that.

On the one hand, I tend to agree that frivolous/silly names and designs tend to cheapen the whole idea of tartan as a meaningful thing. But on the other hand, I wouldn't presume to tell someone they can't have their own original tartan design, regardless of what association they represent, and I'm glad the official registry feels the same.

[Mel Gibson Braveheart voice] Freedom! [/voice]

Here's the downside to failing to adequately regulate tartans. Suppose you designed a tartan, registered it as "Clan McWhatever" and had it woven and launched an advertising campaign to market it. You hope to make a lot of money, and therefore have put a lot of your money on the line developing your "tartan" product. Now suppose that Angus McWhatever, chief of the name and arms, decided he didn't like your tartan, and especially didn't like you using his name to make money. What do you think might happen?

Well, Angus McWhatever of that Ilk could quite simply enjoin you from using his name, or the name of his clan, to market your goods, leaving you with a warehouse full of unsold tartan, and a whole lot of pound notes gone down the swanney on an advertising campaign that will never see the light of day.

I would think that most designers and manufacturers of tartan would rather deal with a stuffy and pretentious individual at the tartan authority office instead of facing a similarly stuffy and pretentious individual sitting on the bench in a court of law, adjudicating on the rights of an individual to prevent his name being used in commerce without his permission.

I'm all in favour of freedom in the marketplace, but I oppose those who would use this freedom as license to defraud others of their rights.