Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Texas

Trademark Protection

If a company is registered with the Federal Patent & Trademark Office, is it protected from another company trying to register the same name with the state of Texas and also can they use the term Inc. instead of Company and say they are different.


Asked on 1/30/04, 9:48 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Jeffrey Look Look Law Firm

Re: Trademark Protection

Of course the answer depends on the relationship of the goods and services of the parties, but assuming they are competitors or their products are related in someway, the answer is the federal registrant has the upper hand. The other guy adding "Inc." to the name or mark will not help him avoid an infringement in any manner whatsoever. I just handled a case exactly like this and trust me, the federal registrant is the one who gets to call the shots. Give me a call if you have any more questions.

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Answered on 1/30/04, 10:29 pm
Elizabeth Schaefer SCHAEFER LAW FIRM

Re: Trademark Protection

If (1) both companies use their company names as trademarks, e.g., as the name of their products, and (2) the products bearing the names are similar enough that consumers may be confused with respect to which company sold which product, then the later one to adopt the name may be committing trademark infringement.

In this regard, the words "Inc." and "company" usually don't make a difference.

If you would like further information, please let me know.

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Answered on 1/31/04, 4:49 pm


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