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Written by : Dolores Belles |
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can you get a trademark if someone else is already using your name the answer is maybe just maybe it depends upon a few things let's talk about them first if someone else is already using your name but they don't have a registered trademark then you just might be in luck so let's say that you've been operating I don't know Sam sandwich shop and is another Sam sandwich shop in some other part of the country or the world that's been using their name longer than you if they didn't file for trademark protection first you can still race them to the trademark office file your application and possibly get your trademark rights first so just because someone else is already using your name even if it's in connection with the same business as you you could still obtain trademark protection but what if someone has already filed for trademark protection for their name before you and has trademark rights can you still get trademark protection the answer is still maybe alright I'm chock full of good news today so two companies with the same name can both have trademark rights so long as they have different types of goods or services this might surprise people because you may think that once you have a trademark you get a monopoly or exclusive rights to use your name but that's not the case you only get exclusive rights within the same classes or categories or types of goods and services that you offer so think about Delta the airline and Delta the water faucet company both are called Delta both have trademarks and they're allowed to do so because consumers aren't really confused they don't think that the same company that flies planes also helps you get water from your sink so if you have a name that you want to get protected but you're worried because you see somebody else is out there online using it or you know that they have a registered trademark you're not dead in the water yet by contacting a trademark attorney they can run what's called a trademark clearance search and be able to determine one what is your likelihood of success of getting a trademark based upon what other trademarks have been filed before you or what roadblocks might exist for you obtaining trademark protection and by having that information you and your trademark attorney can come up with a plan of how to protect your business name or logo and get all those wonderful and exclusive rights that come with trademark protection but you might be thinking Ethan what are these wonderful benefits that come with getting a trademark I'd love to tell you about them but you've already been watching this video for like two and a half minutes so instead I invite you to visit trademark Tuesday's com where you can download our free guide called how to protect and grow your business or brand with trademarks and it's going to provide you with answers to all common questions about trademarks such as what is the trademark process what are the benefits or what will happen if someone else uses my name so visit trademark Tuesdays dot-com download your free guide and get all those juicy answers to those tough trademark questions that you've been thinking about there's actually coffee in this cup okay not much less but you were thinking I was faking it uh-huh it's coffee it's cold but there's coffee
Thanks for your comment Etta Vernet, have a nice day.
- Dolores Belles, Staff Member
beneficial bey asked me on youtube if we're in the same class can I use two and one if somebody else already uses one and two my name is Andre mint if I'm the father of trademark factory and I answer questions like this all the time so subscribe and get notified whenever the next one goes live here's my answer to this question alright so first let me try to rephrase it just to make sure I'm answering the right question so let's say somebody trademarked a brand that has two components to it separated by an and alright so a and B or one end - and the question is is it okay for somebody else to come in on the market and start using a slightly different brand for the exact same products and services and the only difference is that instead of one and two their brand is two and one so not a and B but B an A now that's what's usually considered confusingly similar because most people may not necessarily recognize the order in which the the to the to appear and unless you can you can prove that the that nobody in the right mind would ever confuse the two be a very very very hard thing to sell to the judge or the trade box office so the the standard is not comparison with a view to find the differences the distinctions the the way they make those decisions is they look at whether somebody who barely remembers the first mark when exposed to the second mark would be likely to think that both products come from the same company right so it's in this case if you've got the exact same components and an in-between it's it's it's very unlikely that you'd be able to get away with it the only way to get away with it really is if you got the consent from the other company and you could make the case that to the trademarks office that they don't mind and the market can actually distinguish between the two and as you conquer the market with your second mark so you get a lot of people to know you under that brand while they also know the other company and they're their brand so for example I don't know Tom and Jerry and you know Jerry and Tom right they do sound differently so you can make that case but only if you can convince the trademarks office of the court that the the earlier brand owner is okay with that because if they're not you're in trouble I and look if you're just thinking of starting a business and you're just thinking of a new brand and you know that there's somebody out there with that brand and you're just thinking well why don't I just change the order price never never never a good idea to start building one of the foundational assets of your business knowing that it can be taken away from you like this it's really a bad idea because I mean look would you go and spend any amount of time and money building a house on the land that you don't own but not just on the land that you don't own but building it on you know on the spot on that land that constantly get washed off by the sea and also that sand so if you know it's not stable right so whatever investment you make in building that house on top of that sand that's constantly being washed off by the water is is not a very wise investment let's put it that way so similarly with a brand there's no reason in the world to spend a minute of your life or a dollar out of your pocket building a brand that you don't own owning the brand is more important than having a great brand because having a great brand you don't own gives you nothing having an okay brand that you own gives you an opportunity to build that okay brand to something that millions of people will know recognize and love and that will eventually become a oh you know super valuable and can become six-figure seven figures it can be worth billions think of Nike swoosh they paid $35 for the design now they're their entire brand portfolio is worth tens of billions of dollars right there's nothing inherently amazing about the brand what made it amazing and super valuable is what they made of it because they owned it so that's my answer to this question I hope you liked it if you did like this video post a comment below if you have questions for me and make sure you subscribe to get notified whenever the next video goes live and go to trade my factory comm to book your call with a strategy advisor if you've got a brand that you want to protect because look it's one thing to ask question about well well about one and three versus two and one in real life these questions are a lot more complicated there's a lot more to it that goes into checking whether you can use a brand you can own a brand and the first thing we're gonna do when you become a client is we're gonna do a comprehensive trademark search to check how likely it is that you'd be able to register your trademark and if it is then for one five feet you're gonna get the whole thing registered from start to finish with 100% money-back guarantee and if we find some issues that make your brand not ask trade markable as you like then you can get all your money back it's a full refund we don't you know keep anything for the trademark search that we've done you essentially you get a free opinion why your brand is trademark Abel but again we're not we're not a refunds company we're a company that helps you protect your brand so if that's what you want go to a trademark factory they'll come and book your call right now and until then I will see you in the next video
Thanks Broderick your participation is very much appreciated
- Dolores Belles
About the author
I've studied concurrency theory at Muhlenberg College in Allentown and I am an expert in high-performance computing. I usually feel good. My previous job was town clerk I held this position for 14 years, I love talking about wikipedia editing and collecting hats. Huge fan of Rae Sremmurd I practice bodysurfing and collect first editions.
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