Do I really need a trademark??

Subject: Re: Do I really need a trademark??

Comments:
: Do I need to trademark my company name if I incorporate my business, register the domains, establish a presence on the internet, and do commerce across state lines? Would this constitute "prior use" or a "common law trademark"? If someone tried to establish a trademark on my unique company name could I prevent it? : I am sure I want to aquire a trademark but I do not want to "have" to aquire one at this time. Are there established guidelines that I can follow that would protect my company from being stolen before I am ready to establish a trademark? : Just as a side note. This seems like a time bomb. If all someone has to do is establish "prior use", couldn't anyone establish a plethora of small businesses built on web sites and then wait for someone to make a mistake then litigate the heck out of them? I know that the cyber-squating laws were passed to prevent the theft of tradmarked names but what about those individuals that take cyber-squating to a new level. : Such as: : I register the domain name "MyDomain.com", I establish a website and do some form of minimal commerce across state lines, I then wait for someone to establish a business similar to mine, ala "YourDomain.com". I then sue the heck out of them for infringing on an established "prior use". : I certainly could see someone laying these sort of land mines and waiting for someone to accidently step on them.

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