I will be launching a new webservice soon and would like to know when is a good time to trademark the name. The problem is it might go absolutely nowhere so getting an expensive $400 trademark seems foolish to me right now but if I don't trademark it is it possible for someone else to put in a trademark before me and then sue me over the use of the name? I know that it can take years to get trademark approval but if I were to say put in a trademark after someone else put in the trademark for a name I had been using all along would they get it over me. I know that the time frame does matter in which you began using the name but can there be any legal problems if I don't get a trademark now?
You cannot be sued if you start a business and then someone else trademarks theirs after yours is started.
Of course you can be sued - it happens all the time. Whether that lawsuit has merit is another question.
If you start a company with the word and after it is started then someone trademarks it you wont and cant be sued.
And what prevents them from suing you? You may have a defense, but that does not mean you can't get sued. You can say it until you are red in the face, but there is simply no bar to a lawsuit.
Then why not talk to an attorney who specializes in these things, especially if it's for a business that might need further review? You can start with your local yellow pages. I can also suggest this forum, but do realize you'll get feedback and not "legal advice".
If you want the test the waters with your business idea without an initial investment, then go without a trademark. But if you are serious about your business, and don't want to get in any trouble in the future, I'd highly recommend trademarking your name. There are 3 ways of filing a trademark. I always recommend trademarking your biz name before investing into its brand value. Good luck. P.S. Consulting a lawyer about this question will cost you almost as much as filing the trademark
Trademark rights are earned by use, not by registration. You lock in your trademark when you use it consistently "in commerce." Registration is *evidence* of ownership as well as evidence that the mark has been used for a particular period of time. So, you don't always need to register. Now, if your proposed mark is a URL, then you are going to have much greater protection by maintaining the registration on the URL than you ever would through trademark law--at least for that specific spelling of the URL. Because, of course, no one can register the same URL. URLs, or website names, contain as part of their official record the date that the URL was purchased. Websites--compared to other products--it's pretty easy to prove they existed as of a certain date. Because, in trademark, like all intellectual property, "first in time is first in right." But it's easy to prove that a website was up on a particular date--you can use hosting records and bills, printouts of the site, records of updates to the site, and of course your URL record. And so, if some aggressive litigant comes along later and tries to battle with you over your trade name or mark, you'll have good ammunition. So yes, while anyone can sue anyone, my bet is that you'd be in a fairly safe position even without a registration. I wrote a trademark primer that you can read here if you want to deepen your understanding.
Thanks alot thundercow I am going to proceed without one for right now and then trademark it in a few months.