Question: How can avoid a potential legal issue when undertaking to trademark a website?
Response: When seeking to establish a website trademark, individuals should run an electronic trademark search in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's online database at http://www.uspto.gov.. This website lists all trademarks with a pending registration as well as all registered trademarks. Consumers should search not solely for their contemplated mark but also for marks with slightly-different spellings or synonyms. If the names that appear during the course of the search resemble or are the same as the applicant's intended domain name, he or she should ask the following questions:
- Whether their website furnishes services or goods that usually are sold through the same means as those being distributed under the other domain name;
- Whether their website sells goods or services that are in competition with those offered under the other domain name;
- Whether the other domain name is a household name; and
- Whether their website could potentially divert customers away from the other domain name.
- The applicant who can answer no to the aforementioned questions can safely proceed with his website trademark under the chosen name.
Answered by Yara Zhakaria
Additional Resources: Intellectual Property Attorneys
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