How to trademark a name?

[AutoNova]

Does anyone knowhow to trademark a company name so it can not be used by others? I went and protected the domain on the name but I am wondering what the process is for trademarking a name?;)

[andriver]

Look here http://www.uspto.gov/teas/index.html

[dternst]

Here are a few guidelines from, "Patent It Yourself", by David Pressman available at your neighborhood book store in the Law Section.



"To federally register a trademark, use the online registration procedures at teh PTO website: www.uspto.gov."



"If you do adopt and use a trademark on your goods before applying for registration, you should register it in you state trademark office if it`s used exclusively in your state, and/or the PTO if it`s used across territoral or international border."



To register a trademark in your state, call or write to your Secretary of State in your state`s capital for a trademark application form amd instructions; the cost will be from about $50 to $120."



What doesn`t qualify as a trademark?



- lengthy written mater

-slogans that are merely informational or laudatory

-trade names not being used as a trademark or service

-immoral, deceptive, scandalous, or disparaging matter

-government emblems, personal names, or likenesses without consent

-marks that they consider close enough to existing marks as to be likely to casue confusion

-generic or descriptive words



If you have anyother questions, I will try to help as much as I can.



This is not to be considered as legal advise or one buddy sharing knowledge with another buddy.





hope this helps,



David

[AutoNova]

Good advice....Can you trademark a name in your state but not trademark it on a national level? What is someone trademarks the same name with the gov. that you want to trademark with the state?

[dternst]

"If you do adopt and use a trademark on your goods before applying for registration, you should register it in you state trademark office if it`s used exclusively in your state, and/or the PTO if it`s used across a territorial or international border. Once you mark is federally registered, it will be much easier to sue infringers."



"Instead of (or in addition to) registering your trdemark with one or more state trademark offices and the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), you can register it with an appropriate specific trade organization. For example, suppose you`re an automobile manufacturer and you intend to coume out with a new car, the Zenith, in a few years. Instead of applying to register it with the PTO, whose procedures are relatively complex, whose procedures are slow, and that will keep an intent-to-use application alive for only three years, you can register you mark with the Automibile Manufacturer`s Association (AMA) under a relatively simple, economical procedure. Similarly, movie titles can be registered with a movie industry association and websites and domain names for email addresses can be registered with Internet services. So if you intend to use a trademark in a given industry, check with the industry`s main association to see if you can register you mark with them as an alternative or in addition to a PTO or state registration."



Patent It Yourself, 9th Edition, David Pressman

[medic159]

I have a lot of trademarks, copyrights, and a couple of patents. Here is how it really works for trademarks:



1) Some protection, no cost: you simply start using it and attach the â„¢ (trademark) symbol to whatever you want to protect. This is telling the world "this is mine don`t use it." You should so a search first to be sure nobody else is using it. Trademark law says that the first use is the date of trademark and as long as you can proove you are first then you are protected.



2) More protection, some cost: state registration but personally I see no need for it.



3) US Patent Office protection, considerable expense: You need to do an official search to be sure you can use it, then register and get your documents from the patent office. Once done you can use the ® symbol indicating you registered the trademark. This process will cost you about $500 by the time you are done.



Here is what I do:

- My company names and logos are registered at the patent office since they cover broad areas.

- For product names not registerted at the patent office I make a copy, have it dated and notarized and give it to my lawyer to keep. If I ever need to defend my use of it we can easily prove first use.



Another thing to consider are copyrights which also give you some protection.

[imported_mirrorfinishman]

Originally posted by AutoNova

Does anyone knowhow to trademark a company name so it can not be used by others? I went and protected the domain on the name but I am wondering what the process is for trademarking a name?;)



AutoNova,



Believe it or not, until you get a trademark for your company name all you need to do is to show legal proof that you were in fact using the name before someone else. That is basically all that is necessary.



You can simply do that by mailing yourself one of your business cards or anything else that shows use of your business name and also shows the date too. Either keep the unopened mail as proof of the post marked date or mail it to your lawyer and let your lawyer keep it on file.