Legal Question in Business Law in California

The US designations are not necessary and you will likely need to file a new application in order for you to be covered in this new class.

The fact that you are asking this question here tells us that you have not had any proper legal attention on the due diligence of this mark. This could be a huge mistake.

Your trademark will be one of if not the most important and valuable business assets you will have and you will ultimately spend more money in support if it than you will anywhere else (advertising, marketing, PR, branding, packaging, etc.). So you owe it to your business and yourself to make sure you handle this properly upfront and the first order of business always starts with a proper and comprehensive clearance.

Whenever you endeavor into investing in a trademark it is very important that you conduct the proper clearance due diligence upfront and before you start spending any money in support of it or submit an application to the USPTO. In the US, this means searching under both federal (USPTO) as well as common law because trademark rights stem from use in this country NOT registration. This means that acquiring a federal registration does not necessarily mean that you are not infringing on another's intellectual property:

http://www.lanternlegal.com/trademark_due_diligence.php

http://www.lanternlegal.com/test_trademark.php

http://smallbusiness.m.foxbusiness.com/quickPage.html?page=20969&content=26793940&pageNum;=-1

I would suggest discussing it over with TM counsel before you jump in just to make sure you are not setting yourself up for a problem that may not show up until much later and of course only after you have spent a lot of money.

If you would like to discuss further over a free phone consult, feel free to contact me anytime that is convenient.

Our firm is now referred by the American Bar Association (see under the New York section):

http://www.americanbar.org/groups/delivery_legal_services/resources/programs_to_help_those_with_moderate_income.html

Kind regards,

Frank

www.LanternLegal.com

866-871-8655

[email protected]

DISCLAIMER: this is not intended to be specific legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. No attorney-client relationship is formed on the basis of this posting.