Can anyone tell me where to look to find out if a word or name is copyright or trademark protected. For instance the name "James Bond" is a well known name, would I run into trouble if I sold an eBook which contained that name ? Is there is a distinction between writing a spy story with the main character being called "James Bond" AND writing about How to develep a "James Bond" / Alpha Male personality. On slightly the same theme - the word "Playboy" would this be TM'd by Mr Heffner or only when used in conjunction with the bunny image ? Thanks in advance. David
you can search for US TM at: www.uspto.gov and/or http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=fkpkfo.1.1
For words and phrases, it's trademark. USPTO is only for US-based federal applications. If you really want to find out, an exhaustive search is in order, including state-side, country-wide, etc.