Hi, I have the following question. I will use the word food as an example only. Say I want to register a domain name "food".whatever extension and the word is a dictionary word. When going to food.com, the logo has the word food trademarked!!! i want to register the name food.tv Will that casue me any trouble? a .tv extension has nothing to do with the company. It is supposed to be a TV station and there is no TV station with the name food.
Food Channel, now on your local cable company lineup. If I understand you, you want to register a word that is in the dictionary that is trademarked? Have to remember, dictionaries also include trademarked names. If a trademarked name, I would be leery of trying to get a domain using it.
My somewhat limeted understanding of the US trademarkmark process, using your example, is that: Food may be a registered trademark for xyz comapnay as a brand of toothpaste. In a totally different area food may be eligble for trademarking as a laxative by the abc comapany. The two do not infringe as as they are in completely different classes. Coined terms can be exclusive. A Realtor is a Realtor. No other use of the word is allowed.
Ok, let me make it more clear. Say the word is about type of countires and the company is selling candels. The word is the actual name of the company. Are they related in anyway?
If your usage infringes on their trademark, you will have problems. The dictionary isn't a guide. This is a great reason why you should seek out a IP lawyer. But, if you must do it yourself, look up the trademark and see what's being trademarked.
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/metaschool/fisher/domain/tm.htm Shell is in the dictionary. But it's also being used to sell oil products. It's how the domain name is intended to be used that'll answer your question whether it'll infringe a trademark or not.
intellectual property. you can't trademark "food" anyways - you'd have to trademark "food network" "the food network" or some such thing. For what its worth, if a company trademarks "food network" - it simply means that you cannot tell people that you are the food network, or try to cause confusion between the brands.
You can trademark food, just like you can trademark "apple" - as long as the classification/usage is unique i.e. "food" as a jewelry line, etc. There are over 40 trademark classifications, and a trademark in one does not give you exclusive rights to a word. What you can't do is trademark a common/generic usage of a word, i.e. "apple pie" as a baked good and then claim no one else can describe a pie with apples as "apple pie". You could get a trademark on logo with the words "apple pie" for a baked good - but that is a design trademark rather than a word mark.
That's what I meant. You can't trademark "food" as something to eat; but you could do it as a brand name "food" brand cars or whatever. That's different. When you do a trademark, you put it into a context during registration. Food Cars made from carrots, apples, and watermelon rinds Whatever