Can anyone trademark anything [Video]

Last updated : Aug 25, 2022

Can you put a trademark on anything?

You can claim a trademark on anything by using the TM Symbol, but you can't use the registered trademark symbol (R) unless you have registered the trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

What Cannot be a trademark?

Under the Trademarks Act, A commonly used or accepted name of a chemical element or a chemical compound cannot be given a trademark registration. A chemical declared by the WHO which acquires international non-proprietary names can also not be registered.

Can I trademark something without a business?

You can't register a trademark for non-business purposes. You can only trademark a brand name that you're using in business or that you intend to use in business in the near future. You can't register a generic or descriptive name.

What are 3 items that can be trademarked?

Non-generic words, logos, slogans, colors, smells, and sounds can all be registered with the USPTO, as long as you can demonstrate how they represent your business. Inventions and works of authorship cannot become registered trademarks and should be protected with patents or copyrights respectively.

How long does a trademark last?

A federal trademark lasts 10 years from the date of registration, with 10-year renewal terms. Between the fifth and sixth year after the registration date, the registrant must file an affidavit to state that the mark is still in use.

Can I put a Nike logo on a shirt for personal use?

In fact, copyright and trademark violations can in some cases lead to criminal charges. Selling shirts with copyrighted images isn't impossible, but you should never use someone else's logos on your T-shirts or other clothing without their explicit permission.

What is the strongest type of trademark?

The strongest types of trademarks are (1) fanciful or coined marks, such as EXXON for petroleum products; and (2) arbitrary marks, such as AMAZON for retail services.

What qualifies for a trademark?

Two basic requirements must be met for a mark to be eligible for trademark protection: it must be in use in commerce and it must be distinctive. The first requirement, that a mark be used in commerce, arises because trademark law is constitutionally grounded in the congressional power to regulate interstate commerce.

What is not protected by trademark law?

Generic terms are not protected by trademark because they refer to a general class of products rather than indicating a unique source.

Should I get a trademark or LLC first?

It is important to get BOTH an LLC and a trademark and it is best to form the LLC BEFORE applying for a trademark. Each offers different protections, and they work together to provide broad protection for your business. It is better to form an LLC before filing a trademark application.

What is the cheapest way to trademark?

The basic cost to trademark a business name ranges from $225 to $600 per trademark class. This is the cost to submit your trademark application to the USPTO. The easiest and least expensive way to register your trademark is online, through the USPTO's Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).

How long does it take to trademark a name?

Usually, the process takes 12 to 18 months. Registering your trademark is a complex procedure that involves your application moving through various stages. Learning about each stage in the process will help you understand why getting a trademark takes as long as it does.

Is Nike Just Do It trademarked?

Just Do It or JDI for short (stylized as JUST DO IT. and set in Futura Bold Condensed) is a trademark of shoe company Nike, and it is one of the core components of Nike's brand. The slogan was coined in 1988 at an advertising agency meeting.

Is Mcdonalds trademarked?

The word “McDonald's” is a trademark. We call this a standard character text trademark and it would be on its own USPTO trademark application if you wanted a federal registration for it. The Golden Arches is a logo, but this too is serving as a trademark.

What is Coke trademark?

The Coca-Cola Corp owns the trademark to the name Coca-Cola, as well as the trademark on the bottle shape, and the graphic representation of their name. These are all things that help distinguish them from other cola brands and define their individual product.

Can you lose a trademark if you don't protect it?

If you don't enforce your trademark, you risk losing reputation, business, sales, customers, and more to the infringer. There's also a concept in trademark law called abandonment. Generally, if you don't use your mark for three years or more, it's considered abandoned.

How do I sell a trademarked item?

The only way to legally sell items with a trademark that you do not own is to obtain a license from the trademark owner. Trademarks are valuable property rights and are vigorously protected by their owners in most cases -- even against a small, localized business.

How much does it cost to file a trademark for a phrase?

If you have ever asked yourself how much does it cost to trademark a phrase, according to the current fee schedule on the USPTO, trademark registration fees cost $275 per mark per class. If you need an attorney's assistance, the cost averages around $1,000 to $2,000.

Can I make my own shirts and sell them?

In general, it is not "illegal" to make and sell t-shirts.

What can I legally put on a shirt?

This is a very sweeping question and the answer will depend on the specific circumstances. But for a safe answer: you can print anything on a t-shirt that is under public domain without infringing copyright laws.

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hello i'm tami shambati houston-based attorney and host of ask timmy live and today's question of the day is can i trademark a name that someone else is already using now this is a question i get asked all the time and it's a great question so here's the answer it depends with a strong leaning towards the side of no but it depends and let me unpack that a little bit more why am i saying it depends well let's say you want to use a name that someone else is using but they are not in the same lane as you perfect example we have delta airlines and we have delta faucets delta airlines is operating all the way over here delta faucets all the way over here is it is it likely that someone is going to mix up the two companies do you think that someone who is going who is looking for airlines right booking a flight is going to accidentally try and book a flight with the faucet company no there's not a likelihood of confusion there right and so in such instances where the name that you're trying to use is a name that's being used but in a different industry with different goods and services then yeah maybe if however you're trying to copy the name or do something similar use the name of product or service that somebody is already using even if they haven't already registered it but you're in that same lane you know you're wrong we don't have to talk about like there's a legal side to this but you already know what you're trying to do right um and so we're going to say that that's a no and the law is going to agree and say that's a no because they do not want a likelihood of confusion if you're trying to operate in this area where somebody else has already established their roots why are you trying to do that it's not nice um and the law reflects that they want to look at first on use so when they're looking at who has stronger rights to a name surprisingly it is not the first person to register the name it's the first person to use the name and registration service has proof of your use it's not the only form of proof that can be proffered or provided but it is strong proof and it also provides notice to the rest of the world that hey this is my lane i own this area okay so don't come and play over here right so that is what essentially happens and that's where you get that strong no if it's a similar good similar service then you don't want to do that but if you're in two different areas so we already gave the example of the delta there's also this golfing company called my girl so they're talking about the golf clubs and so they're called my girl golf clubs i don't know why but they've registered a mark when it comes to golf clubs there's another mark when it comes to guess what dolls and clothing and apparel for the dolls that's called my girl they can operate and coexist because they're operating in two different markets they're operating in two different channels they're operating with two different products and services they're not trying to confuse each other they're not trying to steal each other's business they're doing their own thing right and so that's what i want to encourage you to do as well if you see that someone has something that is similar to the name that you want to use or exactly the same it's probably better that you go back to the drawing board and even as a business owner if there is something that is so similar to yours like a lot of times i have people who come to me and they say that oh it's different from mine because mine i have two e's and they have one e or you know let's say they're saying um miss miss stacy's and they're like oh miss stacy with a y and this one is miss stacy with an i well do you want your customers to have to think that hard has to which which company they're trying to deal with from a marketing perspective from a branding perspective that's not what you want because that could cause them to accidentally give the other miss stacey with the y the money that they intended to give you miss stacy with an eye the example i gave is very interesting but essentially that's what you should keep in mind um if you're operating in two different product areas then it might be okay but i also want to caution you when you're deciding what your brand is going to be and the marks you're going to use think about not only what you're currently selling the goods and services that you're using now but the areas where you might as eventually expand into because that can cause you trouble in the future if you expand into an area where there's a mark that already is in use perfect example is apple when apple started there was apple computers that they created but there was also apple music now they thought at the time that yo we're in two different lanes i'm not crossing into your lane we're good right music computers or music computers well what happened over time apple decided the great idea of itunes and and ipods and all of this music related material goods and services that they started to provide and guess what apple music that was saying hey we don't want you to play in our playground when they started was like now you really are making a mistake and guess what apple music got paid a lovely sum of money by apple computers because they were in the right and apple computers was in the wrong so you want to keep that in mind when you're thinking about your name it's like okay right now i'm just selling this but i think i'm gonna sell this this this and this as well let me make sure that those areas i have some type of i'm coming up with some type of strategy to make sure that nobody else is using it and that area remains um protected for me that was a lot i hope it was helpful if it was go ahead and like this video share this video subscribe to this channel and then follow me on social media you can find me at tos legal you can find me on instagram twitter facebook and you can visit my website wwe and let me know if you have any other questions drop a comment below love hearing from you and can't wait to talk to you soon have a great great great week bye bye

Thanks for your comment Garth Ruggirello, have a nice day.
- Marcus Brain, Staff Member

hi everybody I'm attorney Aiden Kramer with the law office of Aiden Kramer in Colorado and you're watching all up in your business what I'm going to do in this episode and a few of the next ones is dive into some details about trademarks there are a lot of concepts and a lot of particulars when it comes to getting a trademark that most people unless you're an attorney who deals with trademarks you're not familiar with but there are important things to know if you're considering getting a trademark or if you're in the process of getting a trademark these things are things that you're probably going to deal with at some point so in this first episode I'm going to talk about some of the things that you can't trademark and when I say can't there are some caveats to that but in general these are some of the things that are more difficult or that you can't trademark the first thing that you can't trademark is something that is primarily a surname so if you want to get a trademark for your business's name if the name is mostly your personal name you're going to have a harder time getting that trademarked let's use my business for example the law office of Aiden Kramer there are a few problems with this the first one being that if Aiden Kramer the law office of Aiden Kramer the trademark office doesn't like to trademark things that are primarily somebody's name so I would have a hard time getting a trademark over my business's name because it's mostly just my name the next thing that you can't trademark is something that is overly descriptive or suggestive and this means something that describes the goods or services that your business provides so let's look at mine again the law office of Aiden Kramer the other reason I can't get that trademark is because it says the law office of Aiden Kramer that lets you know that I the law office I provide legal services the trademark itself the law office of Aiden Kramer is far too descriptive to get a trademark because it's just describing what I do and the services I offer the next type of thing that is difficult to get trademarked is one that is primarily Geographic so if your businesses name has some indication of where you're located let's say my business was Colorado legal services I wouldn't be able to get that trademarked because the Colorado is just describing where I'm located or where I serve people and then of course going back to the descriptive part legal services I wouldn't be able to get that trademarked because all I'm doing is telling you where I am and what I do and the trademark office frowns upon those kinds of trademarks and then finally a trademark that is primarily ornamental is difficult to get trademarked as well I talk to a lot of you who are clothing designers which is great I had no idea there were so many clothing designers and people who wanted to start clothing lines out there but there are a lot of you and part of the problem that I see when I'm working with these people who want to start clothing lines is that they want to trademark a logo or an image that they're going to use just on t-shirts or just on their apparel the logo is only going to be used on their apparel and that is considered ornamental so if you have a phrase or an image that you want to put on to clothing or onto a product and that's its primary use as being on that product then that might be considered ornamental and you might have a hard time getting that trademarked so I said that these can't be trademarked but that there are a few caveats to that that is true there are a few ways to get around some of these restrictions of what you can and cannot trademark and you're going to have to stay tuned for the next couple of episodes to find out how you can get around those restrictions when it comes to trademarks there's so much more to it than most people are aware of and because of that it's always a good idea to work with an attorney if you're trying to get a trademark or if you're interested in getting a trademark because an attorney will let you know if you even can trademark whatever it is you're trying to get trademarked if you would like in the assistance getting a trademark or are interested in getting a trademark please feel free to contact me my phone number and email are below be sure to subscribe to my channel so you don't miss those next episodes with all the answers to the questions that I posed thank you all so much for watching I'm Aiden Kramer and I'll see you next time

Thanks Tyron your participation is very much appreciated
- Marcus Brain

About the author

Marcus Brain

I've studied sociology of leisure at University of South Florida in Tampa and I am an expert in complexity economics. I usually feel silly. My previous job was radiologic technicians I held this position for 19 years, I love talking about swimming and paludarium. Huge fan of Mark Twain I practice sledding and collect antique.