Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Trademarks come in classes. There's a clothing class, a food class, a legal services class, a sports class, a cars class, and about 5,000 other classes that describe the particular stream of commerce that the trademark is found in. If the trademark you're talking about is registered in one class and an individual tries to register the mark in that class -- say, clothing -- then the owner can oppose the registration. If the trademark is registered in one class -- say, clothing -- and someone tries to register the mark in a different class -- say, cars -- that registration is less likely to provoke an opposition from the senior user.

That's true for normal trademarks. When a mark rises to the level of being famous (and the senior user must prove fame as a question of fact in TTAB or court proceedings), then the protection across classes expands and gets looped in with the idea of trademark dilution. The owner of a famous mark can protect that famous mark across classes.

Statutes of limitations exist, but they are too complex to go into in this forum. If you're actually involved in this scenario as either the senior or junior user of the mark, you need to consult a trademark attorney pronto.

THIS POST CONTAINS GENERAL INFORMATION AND IS INTENDED FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. IT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL ADVICE, NOR DOES IT CREATE ANY ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. FOR LEGAL ADVICE ON YOUR PARTICULAR MATTER, CONSULT YOUR ATTORNEY.