"It's fitting that the guy who claimed to invent the Internet claimed to invent a company with my name,"
Denver firm does a Gore double take
Ex-vice president picks same name as company here
By James Paton, Rocky Mountain News
November 13, 2004
Denver money manager Seth Weiss voted for Al Gore four years ago, but if he could take it back, he probably would.
The former vice president, in a highly publicized affair earlier this week, announced that he is starting a money management company dubbed Generation Investment Management.
It's a fine name for a financial outfit, but there's one problem.
Weiss already claimed it.
Weiss, co-founder of Generation Investment Management in Cherry Creek, was rather surprised to learn that Bill Clinton's former right-hand man had picked the same moniker.
"I voted for this guy," Weiss said, "and now he's sticking it to me."
Weiss, 35, said that he hasn't decided whether to pursue legal action against Gore, although he has consulted a trademark lawyer.
"At this point, we're evaluating our options," he said.
Gore's firm, which also is led by David Blood, the former chief executive of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, undoubtedly has a good legal team.
Yet lawyers either failed to spot the Denver firm - whose Westcliffe Opportunity hedge fund has only "several million dollars" in managed assets - or they decided it wasn't a worry.
Peter Harris, the chief operating officer of Gore's firm and a former Goldman Sachs executive, said he wasn't "aware of the circumstances" when reached by phone at his London office.
Later, a spokesman for the company said the lawyers had done their homework and had concluded that the companies were different enough that the name didn't pose a problem.
"The advice from the lawyers was that with funds that aren't competitive, it's not necessarily a problem," said the spokesman, Richard Campbell.
The two Generations are not direct rivals. The Denver firm has a hedge fund and caters to high net worth individuals.
The second Generation, which is based in London and has an office in Washington, D.C., plans to run money predominantly for pension funds, foundations and endowments.
Gore's firm, at least initially, is "long only," meaning that it will not engage in short-selling bets against stocks, a strategy common at hedge funds.
The new concern will hunt for companies that take a responsible stance on social, environmental and geopolitical issues. Gore, who lost to George Bush in the 2000 election, has made the environment a top priority.
Campbell added that there are "a number of firms around the world with similar names."
He's right.
A quick search of a free online investment company database turned up a Generation Capital Management in Rochester, N.Y., a Generation Advisors in Dallas and a Generation Financial Advisors in Salisbury, Md.
But those firms managed to avoid duplication. Gore and his partners did not.
"It's fitting that the guy who claimed to invent the Internet claimed to invent a company with my name," Weiss said.
Gore couldn't be reached for comment.
Weiss said that London company officials called his office Tuesday morning to discuss the matter and acknowledged that it could cause some confusion.
"This guy calls and he tells me that he's making a courtesy call to let me know of potential conflicts that may arise of his firm having the same name," he said.
"He seemed to think he was dealing with a country bumpkin," he said.
But Weiss said he's no pushover. He's inclined to take on the former presidential contender.
"I'll tell you that in a prior life I was a securities attorney, so I don't feel like rolling over here," he said.
It's too close to call whether Weiss will vote Republican next time around.
"But he's pushing me in that direction," he said. |
