Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Texas

Common Law Trademarks
A company has registered its company logo with the PTO, which logo includes the company name. However, when I searched for it on the PTO's database, there is a disclaimer as follows:

"No claim is made to the exclusive right to use "The ---- Company" apart from the mark as shown"

Although I'm not a trademark lawyer, I am assuming that the examining attorney determined that the name of the company was not distinctive enough to protect.

My question is this, if a competitor uses the domain name "www.the----company.com" for its web site, can The ---- Company, Inc. cause the competitor to cease and desist using that domain name if the name itself is not protectable? Or is the name protectable under a common law trademark?

Asked on 6/25/99, 9:30 am

Bruce Burdick Burdick Law Firm

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Re: Common Law Trademarks

Get a copy of the "file history" of the trademark from the USPTO and you can tell what the Examiner concluded. Why guess?

Answered on 7/07/99, 7:42 pm

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