[Walsfer]

I was searching the name of my upcoming t-shirt line and a found a bit of a problem. Under one of the names I found this.

Goods and Services IC 024. US 042. G & S: TEXTILE FABRICS MADE OF [ WOOL, COTTON AND ] SYNTHETIC FIBERS [ AND COMBINATIONS THEREOF ]. FIRST USE: 19650415. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19650415

Does that mean I can't use the name?

 

[Comin'OutSwingin]

Is the name the same as yours?

I'm guessing that it was granted registration and isn't pending since the first use is April of 1965.

Is the registration "live", "dead", or "abandoned"?

It may make a difference, but if the name is the same, you're probably going to have to go back to the drawing board.

 

[Walsfer]

Yes it is the exact same name. Outside of the trademark website I have searched a lot through different sites and I have found no website supporting it. But yes it is live. Here is all the info regarding the name. I didn't include the name in the below content encase I am wrong and I can still use it.

Goods and Services
IC 024. US 042. G & S: TEXTILE FABRICS MADE OF [ WOOL, COTTON AND ] SYNTHETIC FIBERS [ AND COMBINATIONS THEREOF ]. FIRST USE: 19650415. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19650415
Mark Drawing Code
(1) TYPED DRAWING

Serial Number
72217020

Filing Date
April 21, 1965

Current Filing Basis
1A Original Filing Basis 1A

Registration Number
0801951

Registration Date
January 11, 1966

Owner
(REGISTRANT) DEERING MILLIKEN, INC. CORPORATION DELAWARE 1045 6TH AVENUE NEW YORK NEW YORK

(LAST LISTED OWNER) MILLIKEN & COMPANY CORPORATION BY CHANGE OF NAME FROM DELAWARE 1045 6TH AVENUE NEW YORK NEW YORK 10018

Assignment Recorded
ASSIGNMENT RECORDED Attorney of Record H. WILLIAM PETRY

Type of Mark
TRADEMARK

Register
PRINCIPAL

Renewal
1ST RENEWAL 19860111

Live/Dead Indicator
LIVE

 

[Comin'OutSwingin]

If it's exact and live, you are pretty much out of luck.

The only ray of hope that I can give you is that the G&S is different. You want it on finished goods, and it looks like that they have trademarked it for fabrics.

There is a down side to that, though. It may be that since your products will be made of the same fabrics that they have trademarked, you may still be out of luck.

Your best bet is to speak to an intellectual property attorney, but on the surface, it looks like you're out of luck.

 

[Walsfer]

Well at least there is some ray of hope. It would be really depressing to go through the name process again especially since I have come up with several designs already for this specific name. I'm just glad I came up on this before I started selling and then risked a legal matter.

 

[AustinJeff]

The only sensible action is to consult a good intellectual property attorney.

 

[Walsfer]

I am going to try to call legalzoom or uspto.gov and see if they can give me any type of answer at all. Then I am going to bring it up to the Small Business Administration here in town tomorrow during a meeting that I have set up. If no one can answer it there..then I am going to try and contact some family members that are lawyers to see if they can help. Finally if that doesnt work, I will contact a property lawyer..even though that costs money...lol.

 

[Solmu]

It makes sense to exhaust the free information you have available to you, but I don't really like your chances.

If this one flames out, I'd suggest next time you come up with a name you research its availability before you invest any time and money in it. There are over three dozen exact name matches on your desired brand name, including one (dead) for "young men's clothing". When you choose a single word from the dictionary to be your brand name, you shouldn't be surprised it's already in use.

 

[AustinJeff]

It makes sense to exhaust the free information you have available to you, but I don't really like your chances.

While it might make sense to exhaust the free info available, I don't think it would make sense to rely on it. Unless they were telling you not to do it, which can never get you in trouble.

Would you really go ahead and use the name if someone at the SBA said it was OK? This is a complicated matter and they are not experts. What will happen when you get a cease and desist letter (which you almost certainly will, if there are dozens of other similar/identical marks.) You might have a perfectly defensible mark, but you have no way to know that. Or maybe you are totally screwed. Who knows. But if you went through an IP lawyer, you would probably already have a response drafted and ready to send out immediately.

Free legal advice is often worth far less than what you pay for it.

However, I totally sympathize with not wanting to spend the money on a lawyer. But if you can't afford/don't want to spend the money on a lawyer, I would suggest using a name that you are confident will not conflict with other marks.

 

[Solmu]

While it might make sense to exhaust the free info available, I don't think it would make sense to rely on it.

True. My opinion is that even if it's possible to trademark (and I'm sceptical even of that), it won't be easy (which translates to not cheap). I doubt it would just sail through smoothly. I think you'd want to really love the name to spend that money on a gamble.

(which you almost certainly will, if there are dozens of other similar/identical marks.)

There are dozens of marks with the same name, but most of them are in a completely different category at least (most of them fall into one or more of these categories: computer software, medical equipment, measurement/calibration, financial services).

I totally sympathize with not wanting to spend the money on a lawyer. But if you can't afford/don't want to spend the money on a lawyer, I would suggest using a name that you are confident will not conflict with other marks.

I agree.

 

[three27]

Yes it is the exact same name. Outside of the trademark website I have searched a lot through different sites and I have found no website supporting it. But yes it is live. Here is all the info regarding the name. I didn't include the name in the below content encase I am wrong and I can still use it.

Goods and Services
IC 024. US 042. G & S: TEXTILE FABRICS MADE OF [ WOOL, COTTON AND ] SYNTHETIC FIBERS [ AND COMBINATIONS THEREOF ]. FIRST USE: 19650415. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19650415
Mark Drawing Code
(1) TYPED DRAWING

Serial Number
72217020

Filing Date
April 21, 1965

Current Filing Basis
1A Original Filing Basis 1A

Registration Number
0801951

Registration Date
January 11, 1966

Owner
(REGISTRANT) DEERING MILLIKEN, INC. CORPORATION DELAWARE 1045 6TH AVENUE NEW YORK NEW YORK

(LAST LISTED OWNER) MILLIKEN & COMPANY CORPORATION BY CHANGE OF NAME FROM DELAWARE 1045 6TH AVENUE NEW YORK NEW YORK 10018

Assignment Recorded
ASSIGNMENT RECORDED Attorney of Record H. WILLIAM PETRY

Type of Mark
TRADEMARK

Register
PRINCIPAL

Renewal
1ST RENEWAL 19860111

Live/Dead Indicator
LIVE

The IC code is 024...If I'm not mistaken...t-shirts fall under IC 025.

It looks like this trademark is for material, not a specific T-shirt....but I'm no Lawyer!

 

[Walsfer]

Well I had researched it before but I apparently didn't pay close enough attention. I know there are several with the same name but none of them have to do with t-shirts like some have stated.

Also do I have to look through dead trademarks as well when I am reviewing information?

 

[Walsfer]

Sorry for the double post. But this is what the dead ones are.

DEAD:

Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 025. US 039. G & S: YOUNG MEN'S CLOTHING, NAMELY SHORTS, SLACKS, SWEATERS AND SHIRTS. FIRST USE: 19870515. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19870515

Abandonment Date April 22, 1988

---------------------

When I was going through the dead ones I did find this one. This when correlates with the above one I posted excepted its abandoned....

Goods and Services (CANCELLED) IC 024. US 042. G & S: TEXTILE FABRICS MADE OF SYNTHETIC FIBERS FOR USE IN MANUFACTURE OF WEARING APPAREL. FIRST USE: 19650415. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19650415

Owner (REGISTRANT) MILLIKEN & COMPANY CORPORATION DELAWARE 1045 SIXTH AVENUE NEW YORK NEW YORK 10018

Cancellation Date April 12, 1993

 

[Rico Menor]

Can you change a letter in the name to spell it differently? That makes it a whole new trademark.

 

[Rodney]

Well I had researched it before but I apparently didn't pay close enough attention. I know there are several with the same name but none of them have to do with t-shirts like some have stated.

Also do I have to look through dead trademarks as well when I am reviewing information?

Honestly, this post falls under "legal advice"

Which means, you really need to talk to a lawyer. As Jeff mentioned above, if you are exhausting your free resources waiting for someone to say "it's OK" or "I've done it before", that won't get you out of legal trouble.

In this case, if you want to move forward with a name that is similar to an existing trademark, you need to talk to an intellectual property rights attorney.

As it stands, there's really nothing we can do here to help you with this situation so I'll close out this thread.