Hello Everyone!
Im building an Online Store to sell Peruvian Handmade Crafts to the US. I thought it would be nice to choose a name in Quechua for my store, a native language from Peru. I researched for a while and finnally found a name that was easy to pronounce in english, spanish and quechua. Then i searched for the name in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Sadly someone had already registered it as a trademark for a certain kind of clothing. The thing is: I dont wat to register it as an trademark for a product but as the Comercial Name for my Online Store. If i do this, would it be a trademark infringment? Do i have to ask permission to whoever registered the name first?
Thanks!!!
Hugo
PS: I already sent an email to the USPTO but i dont think they will answer any time soon...
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5 replies to this topic
#2
Posted 22 November 2008, 15:09
I just did a load of trademark research for my husband, yes that would be considered copyright infringement. Crafts + clothing, esp. if they have any kind of wording like "crafted" or "handcrafted" in their trademark PLUS the same name. Not good, you should pick another name or try to elaborate on that name a little bit, can you change the spelling or add something to it? Then you might be ok.
#4
Posted 15 December 2008, 06:56
What about if the name I want to use for my local computer electronics store is the same as a wine company overseas? 
"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious"
- Albert Einstein
#5
Posted 24 December 2008, 04:13
Stephan (VS), on Dec 15 2008, 02:56 AM, said:
What about if the name I want to use for my local computer electronics store is the same as a wine company overseas?
IANAL, so take this with as many grains of NaCl as you wish...
The general principle of trademarks is that if your use of a trademark (for other purposes) would create confusion in the minds of the trademark owner's customers, or would cause damage to the owner's reputation, or is being used in a fraudulent manner calculated to cause harm or loss of business to them, it would be infringement. If your businesses are in completely different fields, and there's no chance of a "reasonable person" being confused by the use of the name (or being misled into thinking there is some association between your businesses), it most likely would be held to be non-infringing. Ford makes automobiles. A different Ford manages models. No one confuses the two. Is there any reason to believe that having the same name as a foreign wine company would lead to confusion between the two, or in some way harm the older business?
With regards to the OP's question, using the same name (for crafts) as an existing trademark on clothing might be a trademark infringement (not a copyright infringement). Not definitely, but possibly (as charinlasvegas mentioned) if there's a "craft" element to the clothing. It wouldn't hurt to ask the trademark owner if they have any problem with it (get their opinion in writing!), but you might be better off coming up with something a bit different.
The above is a common-sense interpretation of law, which doesn't always correspond to what juries decide!
