QUESTION

Will trademarking a title also cover sequels? Ex: If I trademark "Burying Davey," is "Burying Davey 2" also protected?

Asked on Nov 26th, 2013 on Intellectual Property - Washington
More details to this question:
If not, would there be any benefit to registering a trademark for "Burying Davey 2" anyway? And as an aside, would the same apply in the EU?
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1 ANSWER

Intellectual Property Attorney serving Manchester, NH at Hayes Soloway P.C.
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I can't speak to EU law. In the United States, titles are not easy to trademark. In order to be eligible for trademark, the title must develop secondary meaning. Few works achieve secondary meaning such that they become eligible for trademark. As an example, "Little Mermaid" is only registered for theme park services and greeting cards, not for books/movies/entertainment services. No one registers the title of a sequel where the sequel title is the parent title with a '2' at the end. "Toy Story" has 15 registrations right now, but Disney never filed for "Toy Story 2" or "Toy Story 3".  
Answered on Nov 27th, 2013 at 11:12 AM

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