Company name

[sunnymoon]

Hi,
I used to work for a start up company which was going to register its name as the same as another existent company but in another state. My boss said it would be ok because her company is in different state from the other company and also in another field of industry. However, I remember there was a big case between ABBA and Apple with logo, and Apple bought the logo from ABBA after that. With the case of my boss's company, it is ok now when it is small, but when it become big, people would misunderstand between two companies. I wonder if the names of registered companies are known by the federal registration around the US or just in a state? Does the field of business matter?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I think you mean Apple Corps Ltd., which was a multimedia company that was founded by the Beatles. He is right in one regard -- trademark is meant to make sure that a company is easily associated with a specific person or origin and isn't confused with someone else. So if I have Apple Computer, Inc. as one company and Apple Rug Cleaning, Inc. as another, most people probably wouldn't confuse the two as being the same company. It becomes more difficult when you don't have differentiators, e.g. Apple Inc. in one state that provides computer products versus Apple Corp. in another state that provides computer consulting.

But there are also famous marks, which put a different spin on the scenario. For example, the Coca-Cola brand. Would it be fair to have someone trademark Coca-Cola Computers, Inc.? Would this create confusion in the marketplace as to whether this second company is associated with the first? Arguably it might since the first mark is unique and extremely well known -- probably the reason why it was selected to be used.

The easiest way is to search the USPTO.gov website for a federal trademark, as you seem to be aware. Field of business does matter for sure but the bottom line is whether your mark might be too close to another or is obviously used to free ride off of the goodwill of the other company.