Legal Question in Business Law in Michigan

Re: Abandoned Trademark

The answer is not that simple. Regardless of the federal trademark application that was abandoned, they may have a state trademark in Michigan and they also have common law rights for the trademark either as a good or as a service. In general, when people abandon a trademark application, it may be based on an office action, in which the PTO has told them that there will be severe limitations on the mark, or that there is a likelihood of confusion with other existing marks which have higher priority in time than this mark or some such similar mark.

Common law rights are very territorial in that the companies rights would eminate from their location and based on the length of time that they have been using the mark, its rights may be the entire state of Michigan. This fact can only be determined by evidence at trial and this is not a simple quantifiable determination.

Good luck!!