Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Utah

Re: product and/or company name

Dear Bob,

Whether you or the person you reference (we�ll call him a �competitor�) can use the name (let�s call it a �trademark�) or not will depend on many factors, including if the goods that the competitor is currently offering for sale are considered �related� (a legal term) to the goods you offer. Another important consideration is if the competitor stopped selling his product and �abandoned� his rights in the trademark at any point. You should definitely speak to a trademark attorney as there is also a concern that you may be infringing the competitor�s rights, and it is possible he may be able to file an action in court to force you to stop using the trademark in addition to other unpleasant causes of action.

Please feel free to call my office at 415.277.1900 or email me at [email protected] for a free consultation to discuss your trademark rights.

Regards,

Yano Rubinstein

Re: product and/or company name

If you are talking about the company name, you can probably use it as your company name. However, apparently you have not obtained a trademark. You will need to see if he got a trademark. If not, you will need to apply, once you own the trademark, you can ask him stop using the name. If he is using the company name alone, you can ask him to cease using it since it was not protected.