Trademark Law

Okay you came up with a great business name or logo. You want to use it as your company's trademark (or service mark if you offer services). How do you make sure you're not infringing another trademark owner's rights? How do you file a federal trademark application? How do you do a trademark search? Learn trademark principles and protect your name.

Imagine that another business is using your company's name, but you do not have a federal trademark. Is this still infringement?

Before obtaining a trademark registration, you must first ensure that no one else is using the mark.

How can you stop a competing business from using a trademark similar to yours?

Are you concerned that a competitor is unfairly using the same or a similar trademark as your business?

Key Takeaways You can use another owner's trademark without permission for comparative ads, news, parodies, and criticism under the fair use doctrine. "Descriptive" and "nominative" fair use let you reference trademarks to describe products or identify the trademark owner's goods or services. If your

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An unregistered trademark is a trademark that has not been registered with a government agency.

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Trademark Class 3 includes cosmetics, skin and hair treatments, cleaners, and substances for laundry, cleaning, polishing, scouring, and abrasive liquids.

Trademark Class 5 includes mainly pharmaceuticals and other preparations for medical or veterinary purposes.

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