Question for Trademark Lawyers

[nrp603]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New Hampshire


I thought of a company name many years ago and drew up logo ideas. i have these docs with dates still existing. I was going to trademark it but it seems someone took the name only a couple of months ago. Is there anything i can do?

Also am i able to have almost the same name just alter it a bit and logo is completely different, but it would be a similar business.

 

[Zigner]

Since the other company was the first to use the mark in commerce, they have priority. A claim of copyright infringement also likely couldn't be supported with just a dated piece of paper.

 

[justalayman]

you have no "rights" to a trademark until the mark is used in commerce. You cannot register a trademark until you actually use it, or at best are intending to use it (soon) and file an ITU registration.

Thinking up a design does not give you any rights other than the possibility of copyrights in the artwork.

If you have not used the name in commerce as an identifier, and you are considering the same market sector and geographical market, you have a problem. The current user of the name will have a superior claim to the name.

The basis of determining whether there infringement is whether the mark will create confusion in the target market. If your name is close enough to cause that confusion, then your use is likely infringing.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New Hampshire


I thought of a company name many years ago and drew up logo ideas. i have these docs with dates still existing. I was going to trademark it but it seems someone took the name only a couple of months ago. Is there anything i can do?

Also am i able to have almost the same name just alter it a bit and logo is completely different, but it would be a similar business.

You have not provided enough facts to really say whether you can use the same or a similar name for your own company that is currently being used by another company. You could have copyrights in your logo, however, if the design of your logo is creative and original enough to be eligible for protection - but if your logo uses the trademark in its design, your copyrighted logo might be useless.

I agree with the others that it is the use of a trademark in commerce that gains the rights to the trademark. If you never used the name to identify your company and its goods or services, you have no trademark rights.

But, just because someone else is using the same or a similar name to identify their company, even if the company has a similar business to the one you intend, this does not necessarily preclude you from using the name, too. Several companies share the same or similar names without any legal issue.

Facts really matter.

What you will need to do is sit down with a trademark lawyer in New Hampshire for a review of the particulars, to see if you can go ahead with your plans to use the name you thought up years ago without risk or whether you will need to select a new name to identify your company.