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Topic: Can you Trademark the word "International&quo (Read 1670 times) |
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Brian R.
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Can you Trademark the word "International&quo
« on: Dec 19th, 2007, 11:11am » |
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Greetings,
Let's make this simple. Could you trademark "XYZ International" if it was available?
Does anyone know? 
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JSonnabend
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Re: Can you Trademark the word "International
« Reply #1 on: Dec 20th, 2007, 7:56am » |
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I see no reason why you couldn't register that mark, assuming it is otherwise non descriptive and not in conflict with senior registrations. I did a quick search on the "international" portion and found almost exactly a 50/50 split on whether or not "international" was disclaimed.
- Jeff
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SonnabendLaw
Intellectual Property and Technology Law
Brooklyn, USA
718-832-8810
JSonnabend@SonnabendLaw.com
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Brian R.
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Re: Can you Trademark the word "International
« Reply #2 on: Dec 20th, 2007, 6:55pm » |
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Evening,
Thanks for your opinion Jeff. I've been doing some research on my own but I'm by no means an expert. It appears most of the companies I've seen make no claim to the word International even though it is contained in their name. Then I finally found a few that do include the word and appear to have it trademarked. What do you mean by "Non Descriptive"?
Respectfully,
Brian R.
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JSonnabend
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Re: Can you Trademark the word "International
« Reply #3 on: Dec 21st, 2007, 9:12am » |
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When a mark merely describes "an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose or use of the specified goods or services", it does not function as a source identifier and therefore does not function as a mark. For example, if I called my car company "Fast Car Company", people would think I was merely describing the product, not branding it.
See TMEP § 1209 for more information on descriptiveness rejections.
- Jeff
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| « Last Edit: Dec 21st, 2007, 9:12am by JSonnabend » |
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SonnabendLaw
Intellectual Property and Technology Law
Brooklyn, USA
718-832-8810
JSonnabend@SonnabendLaw.com
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Brian R.
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Re: Can you Trademark the word "International
« Reply #4 on: Dec 21st, 2007, 3:43pm » |
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Thanks Jeff.
This helps a lot on what can be quite a confusing subject.
I appreciate the input!
Sincerely,
Brian R.
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