Trademark Question
Where on the web can a USA-based FOSS developer ask trademark questions and get informed answers? (Yes, I do plan to see a lawyer, but want informed advice first so that I don't go in empty-handed.) Here's my questions in case you're wondering.
1. I have a software company name in mind. Unfortunately a billion dollar software company also uses this name for a discontinued (but trademark renewed, oddly) software package they no longer produce.
2. I have a software product name in mind for a helpdesk ticketing system / CRM-lite kind of product. Unfortunately a handful of other software companies have registered that product name, for completely different types of software products.
3. Is it best to wait until the names are tradmarked before I can register the company LLC name under it, put up the website with the logo material of it, and sell the product with the trademarked name? Or do I do this simultaneously and hope for the best?
If others have trademarked the same name for different products, and there is a chance that any of them feels like killing your business, it's better to get a trademark to defend yourself with first. If you can't afford being sued, take precautions.
I'm not an expert on trademarks, but if you manage to register a trademark despite there being same or similar names already then you do get some protection yourself. I guess suing you then would be a bit harder, but I'm not sure.
I tend to play it safe when it comes to naming though, not that I registered any trademarks, but I just don't want our stuff to be mixed with anything else because of same names.
I think the safest option is still to come up with sufficiently attractive yet completely unique names for your company and products.
From nfib:
But it turned out that the name she tried to trademark – the name of her business – had already been trademarked nine years earlier by someone else. When she asked her attorney what this meant, he explained that Jenny actually had no right to use her long-standing business name because it constituted trademark infringement.
But by this time, Jenny had spent considerable time and expense creating goodwill for her business name, and so it was valuable enough to her and her sons that that they asked their attorney to help resolve the problem. The lawyer discovered that the owner of the trademark never used it and was willing to sell it for $10,000. Jenny bought her name back, but it was an expensive lesson.
Jenny had what are called "common law" rights to her business name, but the problem with common-law rights is that they extend only to the geographic region of use and are trumped by federal trademark registration. That is why federal trademark registration makes a lot of sense.
From a google of trademark business name it looks like check the trademark is available first, reg the trademark and grab the domain, then reg the business name. Avoid unofficial trademark/domain search sites, there have been mystery domain regs by the operators immediately following a search...
Judging from this post, there's no doubt you should trademark the names first.
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