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Trademark Question: I've recently just applied for a trademark under my business name but now a new company has just came up using a very similar name. I'm 99 percent sure he has not applied for a trademark but understand it takes months for my trademark to be registered. Is there any legal action i can take while my trademark is still pending. I do not want to contact the company suggesting they change there name without any legal force behind it. Do i have to wait until my trademark is registered before i can take legal action against the other company? Also, what will happen if he attempts to apply for trademark and mine gets denied?
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Intellectual Property Attorney serving Manchester, NH
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Plan for a year from the date you filed the trademark application until the date it registers, if you did everything correctly and there are no complications.
There is nothing wrong with contacting the company without legal force behind you. If the company is just starting out, it is spending money on material bearing its name. The more money it spends, the more invested it is in this name and the harder it will be to get them to change. Putting them on notice now gives them some opportunity to change the name before they become financially committed to it. If they blow you off, that will be their problem later next year. Keep the tone of the letter polite.
Two companies can use the same trademark under the law if their offerings are sufficiently unrelated (see Delta Airlines and Delta Faucets). I would avoid making any threats until you have spoken with a lawyer that can review the facts of the matter and determine a legal conflict exists.
Good luck,
Todd
Answered on Dec 06th, 2013 at 10:13 AM