Introduction: I receive a lot of questions pertaining to trademarks. There are several facets to the topic. First is the scope of protection. Second is what is a permissible trademark and third is what is the process of applying for federal registration of a trademark. Discussion: The scope of protection is vague. A trademark identifies…
strong mark
PERSONAL NAME TRADEMARKS
Introduction People are proud of their workmanship and service. Accordingly, it is natural that people want to name their products and services with their name, e.g., Ford automobiles, Hewlett Packard printers, etc. I suggest this is not, however, a good strategy for establishing a brand. As I continuously urge, the best trademarks are arbitrary words and symbols. Coined words…
GEOGRAPHIC NAME TRADEMARKS
Introduction If you have read my article “Introduction to Trademarks” you will know that I encourage use of arbitrary or coined words as trademarks. They provide the strongest protection. I am always leery of geographical place names in trademarks. At best they provide weak protection. Also it may not be possible to register the marks on the USPTO Principal…