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View Full Version : Can certian words be trademarked?



tiggertim
12-16-2011, 08:42 PM
I have a competitor stating that I was infringing on a trademark that it says he has but does not display the notice on his website or in his publication. I am launching a free publication which would have my town's name plus Buy & Sell. The competitor states that he has the right to use Buy & Sell and is demanding that I do not use it. I think he is just afraid of a competitor that will change how things are currently done. Any thoughts on this?

Tim

TimPiazza
12-16-2011, 09:10 PM
Registered Trademarks are going to be in the public record. Have you tried doing a trademark search at uspto.gov yet?

I'm not a trademark attorney, but I led a team that produced consumer literature for Whirlpool, Corp. Everything we produced had to be approved by their Trademarks department, as well as their Legal department.

You can be sure that terms can be trademarked, but they also have to be used in order to keep the trademark current. It doesn't take much use, but the longer someone goes without demonstrating that the trademark hasn't been abandoned, the more expensive it can be to defend it later. For that reason, we were putting trademarks in the literature just for the sake of protection.

Tim

Steve B
12-17-2011, 04:16 AM
Yes - I run into it in my business. Two very common words (invisible and underground) are trademarked by the big name in my industry and they actively defend those words if anyone tries to use them. Of course, the words are only trademarked when describing my type of product.

KristineS
12-19-2011, 02:10 PM
Definitely check the U.S. Patent and Trademark website, as has already been recommended. I would also consult an attorney and find out if the trademark has to be publicly acknowledged to be valid. I suppose you could have something trademarked and never use any of the required symbols (TM for instance) to advertise that trademark, but it seems like you should. Of course, I'm not an expert on this, so I could be wrong.

Watchdog
05-02-2012, 05:58 AM
Do attorneys help fight deep pocket companies that violate trademark names and can that company be sued for not doing their research to see if they can use a trademarked word in their promotion.

I was told that there might be legal services that help small businesses from deep pockets in these cases?

Does anyone know if legal firms work on a commission of penalties if a company is found in violation of any infringement. Many small businesses don't have the money to fight these huge companies especially if it becomes a David vs Goliath case.

shovelingformoney
09-23-2012, 02:03 PM
Tim is exactly right! Couldn't have said it better myself.