Comments on: Labels and Trademark Infringement

By: Jean Perwin

Jean Perwin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:51:41 +0000

The short answer is no. Dapper and Dapper CLothing are too close. The only way you could do it is if your identical mark is for something totally unrelated to the existing mark. So if you wanted to register Dapper for tires and there existed a registration for Dapper Clothing, it might be possible.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:30:51 +0000

Would you know if a single word can be trademarked if that word is already trademarked in conjunction with another word? For example can I trademark “Dapper” if there is already “Dapper Clothing”? Thanks so much.

By: Jean Perwin

Jean Perwin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:40:23 +0000

The short answer is that it might well be infringing. If you sell a t-shirt in Tampa with the word Rays on it, no matter how much you don’t make it look like the Rays logos or use the Rays fonts, you are using the association with the Rays to sell the t-shirt. That’s infringing use. The same is true of any team that’s well known. These teams are also VERY protective of their trademarks–all of them. And it doesn’t matter if you take the name of the city off. The team will own the mark Red Sox as well as Boston Red Sox. You can use the words red socks to describe red socks or create a T-shirt that says Red Socks on it. But, as soon as it’s Red Sox you have a problem and you could hear from them with a cease and desist letter and you would have to stop selling them. My advice is that it’s not worth the risk.

By: Victoria

Victoria — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:51:09 +0000

I want to design t-shirts using the names of baseball teams, football teams etc, i.e. Tampa Bay Rays. The only word I would be using is the single word like Rays, Yankees, Angels, Red Sox. I wouldn’t be using the full name like New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox. I would be using a different font and style from their trademark. I would be using a maltese cross and other pictures not related to the Rays to form my design. Would this be considered infringement? If so, how much do I have to change to use the word? Can they own the rights to the word even though it can have different meanings not just referring to the team?

Thanks for your time,
Victoria

By: Jean Perwin

Jean Perwin — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:49:27 +0000

Although there are many things you can do yourself, federal trademark registration is not one of them. The online sites like legalzoom or secureyourtrademark are in many cases a pennywise and pound foolish way to go. The process is not a simple one. There are many traps for the unwary and very often the application is in such terrible shape, you have to abandon it and start over. It often ends up costing way more than if it had been done right in the first place. Clothing brands are especially susceptible to problems. Contact an experienced intellectual property lawyer that handles registrations. The brand and the trademark are too important.

By: Barbara Sill

Barbara Sill — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:26:32 +0000

Does anyone know how to go about trademarking the name of a clothing brand? Is this something that I would need an attorney for, or can I do it myself?

By: Abhishek

Abhishek — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:55:43 +0000

Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the license). Infringement may occur when one party, the “infringer”, uses a trademark which is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark owned by another party, in relation to products or services which are identical or similar to the products or services which the registration covers. An owner of a trademark may commence legal proceedings against a party which infringes its registration.

Source – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark_infringement