Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[scotthoodriver]

I have a tentative product name and marketing game plan for my product.

When searching trademarks I found the name I want to use as an abandoned trademark

Can I take posession of this trademark if another entity has abandonded it?

[JSonnabend]

If another entity has abandoned a mark, then it is available for use assuming no one else has subsequent, conflicting rights to it.

How have you determined that the mark is "abandoned"?  Perhaps anticipating your answer, the fact that the Trademark Office records show it as "dead" (or that the application was abandoned) doesn't necessarily mean the trademark was abandoned as well.  That's a different inquiry altogether.

- Jeff

[scotthoodriver]

thank you for your response,

how can I find out if it is then an

active trademark?

[JSonnabend]

There's no one way to make that determination.  What my clients typically do is have me conduct a "Comprehensive Clearance" search that searches the PTO database as well as state databases and business registries, IRS records, etc., to attempt to determine if the mark is being used.   As a start, a simple Google search can also be helpful.

No search is perfect, obviously, but a good search greatly reduces your risk.

- Jeff