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The Trademark Search is Critical
A critical part of launching a new company or product is the
step of developing a name or trademark. Once a potential
trademark has been selected, it is critical to perform a
trademark search to determine whether the name (or a similar
name) has been taken by another company.
A senior trademark owner can order you to
cease using your name if it is similar to their name, and may
cause "consumer confusion". A trademark search should be designed to
include similar words, spellings, and phonetic equivalents.
Minor differences in spelling or punctuation are not
important. The addition or subtraction of a meaningless prefix
or suffix ("EZ"-this or something-"PRO")
also does help you avoid a trademark suit by a competitor.
Since your search must be sophisticated enough to find marks
with subtle spelling differences, professional searches are
highly desirable.
The best time to develop a trademark is before
you start selling a new product or service. If you wait
until you have used your mark for years, you may find that the
mark is not capable of enforcement, or, even worse, that the
mark is owned by a competitor. It is important to realize that
incorporating a company or filing a fictitious name (dba) DOES
NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO USE THAT NAME! This point cannot be
overstated. If you
use a mark that is owned by your competition, they will be
able to order you to change your name even though you may have
incorporated under that name or filed a dba for that name.
Many businesses have been forced into bankruptcy because they
could not afford to recall all of their products and
change all of their advertising.
Trademark
Registration >>
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