HI, I am in the process of building some new web sites and establishing some new brands. I am wondering at what point I can consider that I have a defendable common law trademark in effect? For some of my brands I am putting considerable effort and resources into their creation. I am concerned about a competitor later registering a similar name and taking advantage of the goodwill of my brand. For example; one of the brands I am building is pawdogs and I own the .com. (note: in case anyone searches similar names; the people that own similar names are business that are localized and I am not competing with them.) This is the essence of what my question comes down to: When will common law trademark protection take effect? Do I need to have the business / web site established to a certain point to have the right to the trademark under common law? (would having a logo designed, and up on the page with some basic information about the site offer any protection?) It is not practical to register all of the top level domains to protect my brand, (.com,.net,.org,.info,.nu,.cc and many dozens more) it costs many thousands of dollars to register them all, just for one name. Would I be wise in applying for a US Trademark for the brands that I really am concerned about due to the competitive fields they are in? Thank you very much, and Happy New Years! Jamie Dolan Neenah, WI
Owning a domain name gives you no trademark rights. The domain needs to have a usage to establish rights. You can apply for an "Intent-to-Use" with the USPTO but that is basically establishing a date, not a trademark. You will need to have actually usage before you can complete the process of getting a trademark. I would not want to rely on a logo and some basic information as common law trademark protection - it would be better than nothing, but I would consider it weak. Even if you get a federally registered trademark, it can be challenged or canceled within approximately 6 years of filing. You should pay for a trademark search - it's just not as easy as using Google or checking the USPTO. Having a registered trademark is not required, however, if this is going to be a serious endeavor, you should register your mark. Having a registered mark does not prevent someone else from infringing - you will need to take legal action against them and this can be extremely expensive if the other party decides to fight it. You could be looking at six figures or more. While having a registered mark allows you to seek treble legal fees, I have never spoken with an IP attorney that will says you should "expect" to have a court award you your legal costs.
Well it's funny you should be talking about that. I had a member here post all the content he didn't want to pay for in my itrader rating. Now he knows i can;t use it because it isn't original anymore. illegal practices on this board. maybe an index is required. but since it is being published to the web without permission I reported it to google alert. kinda funny when a web forum about seo techniques uses material without permission, heh?
I don't know mate, I understand that you want to protect a brand your working hard on building up. The problem is that unlike Sony, Microsoft, or Google you don't have a team of lawyers ready to pounce. I think the most cost effective method would be to just find a lawyer who can send a "scare letter". Most people will fold after reading them, and it saves you the cost of a long legal battle.
You can use this to register your trademark: http://www.legalzoom.com/sem/trademarkpage.html?WT.srch=1&se=google&q=registering+a+trademark&refcd=GO325173s_registering_a_trademark&tsacr=GO4368206977&cm_mmc_o=7BBTkwCjCWwc%20C%20ayzpwFzyLlCjCayzpwFzyLjR_fzbEbETCjCywTblfwybET%20z%20fyzpwFzyL&gclid=CKbFqoPJh58CFRwTagodGQNfsQ Code (markup):