It's great that you're thinking of this ahead of time. Congratulations! (You'd be surprised how many people leap before they look.)
Yak's advice is good, but it sounds to me like you want to weed out obvious clunkers before getting to the attorney.
When selecting a name, what you have to keep in mind is that you want a name that won't cause consumers to get confused between your company and another. Delta is OK as a trademark for both Airlines and plumbing since it's not likely people will get confused. No one expects Airlines to be making plumbing fixtures or vice versa. But you wouldn't want to use "Marbucks" to sell hot drinks... Even though it looks different and sounds different from "Starbucks", it's still too close for comfort.
"Likelihood of confusion" as to the source of the goods is what you want to avoid. That's the standard for trademark infringement.
So you'll want not only to choose a name that isn't already well known as a doll (Barbie, Chatty Cathy, GI Joe, etc.), but also to avoid any names that sound or look too much like someone else's trademark for other toys or games. Anything that might confuse consumers. E.g., if someone comes out with a Barbie board game -- people might likely think the game was made by the same folks who make the Barbie doll. Same problem if the name was "Barby" or possibly even "Barmie" (especially if it involved a teenage female personage with unnaturally curvaceous shape and ridiculously long legs).
So, the question is, how to figure out what names are already out there that might conflict with what you come up with?
First step, once you've thought up names you think are distinct (whether real people names or made-up names), is to run a search of registered trademarks. Check out "trademark basics" at
http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/index.jsp. Then, from the same home page, there's link for running searches.
The USPTO has a list of categories or "classes". For your search, check out the one that covers dolls (probably class 22--covering games, toys, and sporting goods) but also any other classes whose goods/services might run in the same channels of trade as your dolls. Run the search not just for your chosen name but for alternate spellings or misspellings of the name. (If you have a name you really like but a variation of its spelling brought up a registered mark, save the info to present to your attorney. If the goods are distinct enough, it may be one that would be able to co-exist, but let the attorney give you the pros and cons of going with it and meanwhile, keep looking for another name that doesn't bring up any hits.)
Second step. When you've found one that seems OK when you search the registered marks, do
another search -- this time on the internet -- using your proposed name(s) in connection with "doll", then "game" then "toy" and any other terms you can think of that might bring up things people could confuse with your dolls if similar names were used. Again, include alternate spellings of your name with your search -- since infringement is based on likelihood of confusion, not on whether or not the trademarks are identical. Do any of those hits indicate goods or services being sold using a name similar to the one you want?
This will help weed-out unregistered (common law) marks, since
in the US a mark does not have to be registered with the PTO to exist. Again, if the goods or services are very different, and you really like the name, don't rule it out just yet, but realize that it could be a problem. Let your attorney advise on it.
When you've done this and feel pretty sure you've got a unique name (or names) that both will sell and won't likely cause buyers to confuse you with another company, THEN take your best names with you (along with information about your kind of doll and where you want to sell it, etc.) to a good trademark attorney, and let them run a full search using their experience and expertise to catch anything you might have missed.
Good luck!
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Topic: Do not want to take someone elses doll name! (Read 583 times)
