Filing a trade mark application isn’t the same thing as having a registered trade mark — it’s just a step in a process, and usually not even the first step if things are done the right way.  (The first step in filing for a trade mark should be having a clearance search done.)  What many people [...] Continue reading →

Can a trade mark owner with a common law trade mark do anything to stop an infringer from infringing on her mark?  For that matter, what is a common law trade mark?  If she does nothing, are her rights waived?  What if she has a federal trademark registration — is she required to sue every [...] Continue reading →

In order to function as a trade mark, an adopted word, phrase or symbol must be distinctive.  Distinctiveness is the thing that transforms an ordinary turn of phrase into a brand, capable of identifying the source of goods or services.  In some sense, distinctiveness can be thought of as uniqueness, as in the case of [...] Continue reading →

Distinctiveness is a necessary element for acquiring trademark rights under both common law and federal trademark law. Trade marks that merely describe goods and services are not considered to be inherently distinctive. Unlike generic marks, like “Trademark Attorney” for an attorney who practices trademark law, or “Table” for a store that sells tables, however, descriptive [...] Continue reading →

We’re all familiar with the Googles and Twitters and Xeroxs of the world. Those brands that adopted purely made up, or fanciful in trademark jargon, trade marks to define their brands. Everyone, more or less, understands that these types of brands are entitled to trademark protection. What about brands that use dictionary words? There was [...] Continue reading →

Here are some important points to consider when selecting a trademark attorney: 1. Make sure that you are comfortable with the attorney. If you don’t have a good feeling about the attorney you’re speaking with, you shouldn’t hire them. One of our clients had a bad feeling about an attorney, but hired him anyway. That [...] Continue reading →

If you’ve followed my posts, or read any of my quotes in articles, it should be pretty clear by now that I am a very strong advocate of hiring actual trade mark attorneys to clear trademark applications before filing them. Trademark rights are complex and difficult to understand. What might or might not constitute trademark [...] Continue reading →