Trademark: Legal Care for Your Business & Product Name, 9th Edition

Web Resources......Page 0
Table of Contents......Page 9
20 Frequently Asked Trademark Questions......Page 15
Your Legal Companion for Trademarks......Page 23
What’s New Since the Last Edition?......Page 24
1. A Trademark Primer......Page 29
Trademarks and Trademark Law......Page 31
Basic Principles of Trademark Law......Page 36
The Role of Federal Registration in Protecting Trademarks......Page 45
Not All Business Names Are Trademarks......Page 49
Trade Name Formalities......Page 50
Trade Dress and Product Designs......Page 56
Sources of Trademark Law......Page 61
The Difference Between Trademark and Copyright......Page 64
The Difference Between Trademark and Patent......Page 65
2. Trademark, Domain Names, and the Internet......Page 67
How to Clear and Register Domain Names......Page 68
What to Do If the Domain Name You Want Is Already Registered......Page 73
Domain Names and Trademarks......Page 77
Other Trademark Issues in Cyberspace......Page 78
3. How to Choose a Good Name for Your Business, Product, or Service......Page 83
Anatomy of a Product or Service Name Trademark......Page 86
Distinctive Names Make Legally Strong Trademarks......Page 87
How Trademark Law Treats Marks With Common Terms......Page 88
What Makes a Distinctive Trademark a Legally Strong Trademark?......Page 91
Guidelines for Making a Mark Distinctive......Page 92
Marketing Considerations When Choosing a Name Mark......Page 102
4. Trademark Searches—What They Are and Why You Should Do One......Page 109
Why Do a Trademark Search?......Page 110
Where Are Trademark Search Resources Located?......Page 111
Different Levels of Trademark Searches—What They Are; When They’re Appropriate......Page 114
Planning Your Trademark Search......Page 118
Using a Professional Search Service......Page 123
Using a Patent and Trademark Depository  Library to Do Your Own Search......Page 127
Does Your Failure to Search Mean You Acted in Bad Faith?......Page 128
5. How to Do Your Own Trademark Search......Page 131
Meet TESS—The Trademark Electronic Search System......Page 133
Getting Started With TESS......Page 134
Understanding the TESS Structured Form Search......Page 137
Tips on Using the TESS Structured Form Search......Page 141
Trademark Searching With TESS: An Example......Page 146
Understanding the TESS Free Form Search......Page 148
Understanding the Results of Your Search......Page 151
An Introduction to SAEGIS—A Fee-Based Search System......Page 155
Searching for Designs......Page 157
Searching State-Registered Trademarks and Trade Names......Page 158
Searching for Trade Names and Unregistered Marks......Page 159
6. How to Evaluate the Results of Your Trademark Search......Page 165
What’s Involved in Evaluating Trademark Search Results?......Page 167
What Is the Likelihood of Customer Confusion?......Page 169
An Overview of How Marks Are Evaluated for Their Potential to Cause Customer Confusion......Page 172
How Closely Related Are the Goods and Services?......Page 174
How Similar Are the Marks?......Page 184
Additional Factors......Page 185
Final Factors......Page 188
How to Read a Trademark Search Report......Page 189
7. Federal Trademark Registration......Page 199
Brief Overview of Federal Registration......Page 202
What Marks Qualify for Federal Registration......Page 203
If You Haven’t Started Using Your Mark, Should You File an Intent-to-Use Application?......Page 208
What Examples of Your Mark Will You Submit With Your Application?......Page 211
What International Class Is the Best Fit for Your Product or Service?......Page 217
Deciding How Many Marks You Want to Register......Page 219
Applying for Registration Online......Page 220
If You Are Filing by Mail......Page 240
What Happens Next?......Page 241
Communicating With the PTO......Page 242
If the Examiner Issues a Rejection Letter......Page 244
Follow-Up Activity Required for  Intent-to-Use Applications......Page 250
Follow-up Activity Required After Registration......Page 254
8. How to Use and Care for Your Trademark......Page 255
Use of the Trademark Registration Symbol......Page 256
File Your Section 8 and 15 Declarations......Page 258
File Your Section 8 Declaration and Section 9 Application for Renewal......Page 262
Use It or Risk Losing It......Page 263
Maintain Tight Control of Your Mark......Page 264
Use the Mark Properly—Avoid Genericide......Page 266
Transferring Ownership of a Trademark......Page 267
9. Evaluating Trademark Strength......Page 271
A Brief Review of What Makes a Strong Mark......Page 272
For Marks Consisting of Words, Identify the Distinctive Part of the Mark......Page 273
Assess the Legal Strength of the Trademark Aspect of Your Word Mark......Page 274
10. Sorting Out Trademark Disputes......Page 297
Trademark Infringement......Page 300
Determining Priority in an Infringement Dispute......Page 312
Dilution......Page 324
Cybersquatting......Page 331
11. If Someone Infringes Your Mark
......Page 341
How Much Is Your Mark Really Worth to You?......Page 342
Negotiate—Don’t Litigate......Page 346
How to Handle an Infringer......Page 349
12. If Someone Claims That You Infringed a Trademark......Page 361
What the Complaining Party Can Do to You......Page 362
Steps You Should Take......Page 363
13. International Trademark Protection......Page 367
Where Will You Seek Protection?......Page 369
How Will You Register Abroad?......Page 372
14. Help Beyond This Book......Page 375
Nolo: Your One-Stop Trademark Resource......Page 376
Finding Trademark Laws and Information on the Internet......Page 377
Doing Your Own Research in a Law Library......Page 378
Finding a Lawyer......Page 380
A. International Classifications of Goods and Services......Page 385
B. Glossary of Terms......Page 411
C. Selected Pages From Thomson CompuMark Trademark Research Report......Page 421
Index......Page 443
Related Products
......Page 463