We Both Have the Same Business Name. Am I in Trouble?

You started your company four years ago and everything is going well when all of a sudden you are handed a cease and desist letter.  The letter informs you that you are using another company’s trademark – their company name.  What are you to do? With the world increasingly getting smaller thanks to the internet, […]

Five Classic Examples of Trademark

What is a company trademark? “A trademark is any name, symbol, figure, letter, word, or mark adopted and used by a manufacturer or merchant in order to designate his or her goods and to distinguish them from those manufactured or sold by others.” – defined by dictionary.com. There are many different types of distinctive marks […]

In today’s web 2.0 world, it is even harder for companies to protect their trademarks.  With more and more people interacting on these social media sites, we see more cases of trademark infringement.  Many times the infringers are not even aware that what they are doing is illegal.  For example, fans of a product or […]

A Guide to Trademark Licensing

By: Tyler Hampy Say that you really want to use a phrase or logo that you know is trademarked. Is there a way you can use the mark without getting yourself into trouble? The answer is yes! You need a trademark license. A trademark license is a permit to use another’s mark. It gives you […]

By Mark Warzecha I recently read an article in Rolling Stone with the title, “Jay-Z and Beyoncé lose bid to trademark Blue Ivy.” I thought this was interesting so I researched the US PTO. Contrary to the title of the article, Jay-Z and Beyoncé did not lose their bid trademark “Blue Ivy Carter.”   Actually, their […]

Can a company’s mascots be trademarked? The answer to that question is yes, yes they can.  A trademark is defined by dictionary.com as any name, symbol, figure, letter, word, or mark adopted and used by a manufacturer or merchant in order to designate his or her goods and to distinguish them from those manufactured or […]

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