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[boozerker]

1. If you register a personally made-up ending to words, like "issor", for scissor products that each cut different materials, so your products would be named "meatissor" for cutting meats, fabricissor to cut fabrics, or glassissor to cut glass, is your made-up ending to words protected if a competitor releases a product called metalissor that's used for cutting metal?

2. Say you don't register a product that you sell online. If the product's been sold to any client in a state (via eBay or personal website), is the trademark geographically protected for that entire state, or just the region from where that client ordered?

3. Related to #2: if you've shipped products to various clients in a state, is there a number of regions you must do business in with the same trademark before it's automatically protected in the entire state?

4. A company has done business with its unregistered trademark in several regions before. Is there an "expiration date" for its trademark not having been used a particular set length of time in any region?

5. Like #3, but you've shipped products to clients in all 50 states. Does the unregistered trademark automatically get national protection?

[JSonnabend]

The answer to number 1 is "maybe."  More specifically, if you have created in the minds of consumers an association between "-issors" and a single source for the branded goods, then other uses may infringe the "-issors" mark.  That could be a tough one to prove, though, and the answer disregards the telescoped words issue.

For numbers 2-5, there is no bright line rule.  Common law use is protected the geographic extent of that use.  There is no clear rule of measurement, however, yet another reason to register marks federally.

- Jeff