Legal Question in Business Law in California

Trademark infringment

Can the trademark ''Easycab''

prevent the names ''Easy Cabinet''

or ''EasyCabinet'' from being used?


Asked on 12/10/06, 3:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Re: Trademark infringment

You might want to re-ask your question under the LawGuru heading "Intellectual Property" as it would probably get more responses there. I answer questions in that category too, so I'll take a shot at answering.

First, trademarking a name protects it for use in a particular category of products or services only; additional trademark registrations would be needed to extend the coverage to other categories. For example, "Carmenet" can be trademarked as a brand name for wine, and I believe it is. However, that trademark would not prevent someone from using the name Carmenet for a house paint, or an artificial gem stone, or a breed of tulip.

Second, there is serious doubt in my mind whether combinations of everyday words such as "easy" and "cabinet" can be trademarked at all, or their use restricted by another trademark. The USPTO does not allow people to stake out commercial turf on everyday combinations of dictionary words.

So, I think the answer is No.

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Answered on 12/10/06, 3:30 pm


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