Blog trademark

[Jessica99]

I have written a food blog since March 2010 and I own the web domain with the blog's name. About a month ago, a man contacted me with some questions about my blog and I politely answered them. The next day, he filed for a trademark with my blog name. (He also tried to buy my domain but I rejected his offer.) His trademark hasn't been approved yet. If I apply for a trademark with the same name now, will I be able to beat him? I know for sure that I have been using the name longer. Will that give me some sort of precedence? Does it make any difference that at the bottom of my blog it says "©2010 [My name]. All Rights Reserved"?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

You can file an objection to his trademark filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office. If you want, you can file for a trademark claim as well (assuming the name can be trademarked) and show your first use. He will have to prove his first use and, his offers to buy your name and the timing of his registrations can all be used in evidence, should it ever get that far. Don't worry about the date of registration - what matters is the first date of use and yours clearly predates his and you can prove it. Take pictures of your site and, if possible, see if it has been recorded as a picture in one of the many online site reviews / ratings companies such as Alexa, Quantcast, SiteJabber, SiteRapture, WebSiteJudge, etc.