This section of the forum is for discussing the business and finance issues of the t-shirt industry. Which business structure to use (sole proprietor, LLC, S Corp, etc), how to handle billing, where to register your business and get the proper licensing, etc.
I've got a Brand Name, I've searched USPTO.GOV and found that no one owns this trademark. I'd like to purchase it. Like Affliction, no one can print Affliction on a shirt and sell it in Macys.
Does anyone know how i can protect my brand? How to trademark my name so someone can't use it on clothing?
Also, I want to purchase a website under the name of my brand. I went to WhoIS, found the owner, contacted them several times, no response. Any advice, can I somehow legally demand the web site?
Does anyone know how i can protect my brand? How to trademark my name so someone can't use it on clothing?
You can submit a trademark application through uspto.gov. It's not tough to do it yourself, but make sure you have all your info handy. The site has a very extensive checklist of what is needed. Or you could contact an attorney to file it for you, or you could use a service like LegalZoom to file the application.
Something to keep in mind...
Registering your brand name or logo will certainly help protect you. But it is not automatic. Anyone can still go out and infringe on your trademark. It will be up to you to protect your trademark by issuing cease and desist orders and/or suing those who infringe on your trademark.
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Originally Posted by PatrickMasucci
Also, I want to purchase a website under the name of my brand. I went to WhoIS, found the owner, contacted them several times, no response. Any advice, can I somehow legally demand the web site?
If someone else owns it, they own it. I don't think you can demand it simply because you want it. Just keep contacting them, hopefully they eventually get back to you and are willing to sell it.
I would just like to add the majority of the time, the USPTO is going to issue a refusal letter even if you don't have any substantial conflicts. It is at that time that you will need to send a rebuttal which is best written by an attorney. So it is up to you if you want to apply yourself and hire an attorney after the fact, or start with an attorney. Once you get a refusal you will get about 10 letters in the mail from trademark lawyers that buy your name from the USPTO. They charge like a flat fee of 350 dollars i believe. And the trademark app costs 325 dollars.
Trademark attorneys are also more savvy with the specifics. Getting you the most bang for your buck.
Legalzoom is also another way to go but I am not positive if they handle rebuttals.
If someone else owns it, they own it. I don't think you can demand it simply because you want it. Just keep contacting them, hopefully they eventually get back to you and are willing to sell it.
This is true MOST of the time, but there have been some exceptions to this in a few instances. Usually those cases stem from a long standing brand identity or a well known personal identity. Regardless, I doubt you'd fit into either of the below scenarios to even have a chance at getting it awarded to you.
Purely hypothetical scenario of course, but let's say the name pepsi.com were for some crazy reason available and you bought it. It's likely the Pepsi company would be able to challenge your right to ownership over that domain in court and most likely would win because of their long standing identity with the name. If your last name were Pepsi you might have a chance of keeping it, but that would probably be the only way.
If my memory serves me correctly, I believe it was Madonna that had this very thing happen to her. Somebody else registered madonna.com and she took it to court. Because most people identified her with that name and the person that owned it could not establish a stronger right to ownership, she won.
Most likely the best you could hope for if they don't respond would be to pay to reserve the domain name in the event the current owner lets their ownership lapse. You should be able to check the renewal date in the whois lookup.
Just curious, but are they actually using the domain or is it just parked?
Also, I want to purchase a website under the name of my brand. I went to WhoIS, found the owner, contacted them several times, no response. Any advice, can I somehow legally demand the web site?
You can't legally demand the site if they own it before you registered your trademark. That would mean that their site (or domain name idea) came before your trademark application. They call that "reverse cybersquatting". I'm not a lawyer, but they may actually be able to contest your trademark application.
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How to trademark my name so someone can't use it on clothing?
Brand Trademark & WebSite Purchase 
