Quote:
Originally Posted by kryptonium241
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded me a Service Mark for a website name that was comprised of two words, one of which is shared by a competitor in the same International Class. Facebook has no more entitledment to the word "face" or "book" than a company like Airgas would over "air" or "gas".
Having said this though, the screenshot above showing the use of the same font and color on the apparrel is possibly a gray area. i would consult an IP attorney on that matter. I've found that law firms that have already been involved in litigations against an entity are willling to offer a lower rate on cases that add fuel to the fire on their pending cases. You might try Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin.
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However, if you were to read the small print, you would find that you have been awarded the use of that name, BUT, there is a two year period in which any other company may lay claim to that name if it can be shown that they were using that name, trademark or icon/logotype etc. Furthermore, if you have the name but do not use it commercially within a 5 year period, the name can be removed from you.
A trademark that is issued in the US or any other country in the world, may be in breach of anothers trademark in another part of the world, and that is why there is a two year `licensing` period. Any name can be trademarked, even if it is a common name such as Air or Gas, if it can be shown that there is deliberate attempt to use the original owners market, style, icon or niche. You cannot trademark Air and not allow use of the word in other markets. Air France for example, there are numerous airlines that use the word Air, but not in combination with France (both common words).
A few years ago McDonlads sued a guy that had a small Cafe in Scotland, for using the name McDonald, they said it was the same name and he was in the same market and was exploiting their marketing.
As McDonald is a rather famous and common name in Scotland, his defence was that it was a family name that dated back a few thousand years, and that the Cafe had operated under that same name for decades, before McDonalds fast food even arrived in Scotland.
He won his case, but he was ordered by the court to remove the large red initial M that had appeared above his Cafe in recent years.