Hi,
I am seeking to register an international brand. My research has resulted in one single company using the same brand name. My company will produce fashion items and backpacks. Their company is producing air-bubbles for transportation/shipping safety. From my logical point of view both products do not share/compete on the same market (not even close), it should hence not be problematic.
Would you generally agree on that?
regards,
Adrian
derber, in what state or country are you located? I can't tell if your "Hi" is a nice greeting or an abbreviation for Hawaii.
Does the company that produces air-bubbles have a US federally-registered mark? Is it registered in another country?
If the other company is located in another country - especially if the other company has not registered their mark - your risks of infringing on the other company's rights are quite a bit less than if you will be using the same trademark in the same geographic area, this regardless of the class of goods being the same or different. The other company may have no rights to protect in the US, for example, if they are not an active company in the US but the other company may be able to prevent your use of the mark in a foreign market.
Because you plan an international market for your goods, you need to consider not only marks in use in the US but also marks used in other countries. What rights you might have to market your goods under the trademark in the US may not be the same rights you have to market your goods under the trademark in other countries.
I agree with the others that the specific names involved matter a lot. If the other company is, for example, Google, it doesn't matter what you market. You would be infringing on a famous name.
Can you provide more details - but without providing the exact names in question? Thanks.