Trademarks - What You Ought to Know

Trademark law affects every business in the United States. Don't assume that your new business name, new product name, slogan or logo has not already been used commercially OR trademarked!

No business name may be used in any one of the following cases, IF there is a conflict or similarity in sound, appearance or meaning & industry:

• A Federally registered trademark anywhere in the U.S., or
• A State registered trademark in any state they do business in, or
• Used within same geographic trade area with "first use" Common-Law protection.

There are over 2,500,000 Trademarks, and over 16,000,000 commercial Common Law trade names in use. ANY existing Federal Trademark, State Trademark or commercial Common Law use takes precedence over your new business or product name, IF there is a conflict or similarity in sound, appearance or meaning & industry.

When you create a new business name, product name, slogan or logo, you will begin to establish your legal rights to your name in the geographic trade area where you do business based on Common-Law usage.

However, the question is: Is your trade name truly available?

It is a company's obligation and it is in their best interest to enforce its marks. Trademark owners have up to six years to find and order businesses to change any infringing trade name.

Infringing trademark companies could face costly attorney bills ($200 to $350 hour), immediate renaming of their company or product, recall of products, forfeiture of profits, re-marketing of the new name, and marketing change-over for a new name, including logo, signs, corporation, forms, checks, packaging, yellow page listings, web site, etc.

Comprehensive research is truly a need for any new business name, new product name, new slogan or new logo.

Shannon Moore is the General Manager, East Coast for TradeMark Express. Since 1992, TradeMark Express has met the needs of their clients with comprehensive research, application preparation, attorney referrals and trademark consultation. For further details, please visit us on the web at http://www.tmexpress.com