Hi, I just applied to trademark my business name with IPO. I trademarked it under class 41 which is the only class my business fits into. I tried to list as many specifications as possible within the class but i forgot to add online articles/ online text. I did however write some related specifications; online educational entertainment, online news, online media. Does that show my intentions to potentially write articles? If my application passes, will i therefore not be protected to carry out those activities. Can someone use my business name under the same class to carry out these activities? Regards
YOU CAN APPLY FOR AMENDMENT IN YOUR APPLICATION BEFORE ITS APPROVAL, OTHERWISE YOUR CONCERNS ARE RIGHT AS YOU HAVE TO WRITE CLEAR SPECIFICATION AT THE TIME OF APPLYING FOR TRADE MARK
(off topic) Your Caps Lock button appears to be stuck. A little rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip applied to your keyboard should fix that in short order.
First of all, congrats and well done on your decision! A lot of businesses "forget" to do that and later on regret deeply (even though nowadays it's quick, easy and relatively cheap to register a trademark). In a word, no. From what you described, only news articles. As a general rule of thumb, you only have trademark protection for the very specific subclasses you registered. Anything out of that scope and you're no longer protected. So, yes, someone could use your business name to carry out activities that fall out of the scope of your trademark registration and there wouldn't be much you could do. Yes, you could threaten to sue them or actually go to the courts; however, it would not only be very costly, but also very risky for you, because of the Trademark Law principle I mentioned above. You could still carry out activities that fall out of the scope of your trademark registration and not have a problem with that, as long as no third-party registered the same trademark under that subclass. But then again, if it's not registered, anybody could carry out those activities. Furthermore, any third-party could simply register your trademark (or a similar one) for the other subclasses and THEY would be protected, so if you used your trademark for services under the subclasses they registered, YOU could be in trouble. As ahsan karim mentioned, sometimes it is possible to amend your trademark registration before it is granted, in which case you should consider doing so. As far as I know, however, the UK IPO forbids changes after you apply, so you'd need to file a new application. But such administrative procedures vary from country to country. LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This should NOT be considered legal advice and cannot substitute the advice of a licensed professional. There is absolutely no assurance that any statement contained here touching on legal matters is true, correct or precise. I cannot take any responsibility for the results or consequences of any attempt to use or adopt any of the information or disinformation presented here.
I don't give a rats behind whether you are a lawyer or not. The next time I require any legal help I'm hiring you!