Trademark vs Common Law Mark

[bspecnoza]

I own a non-profit organization, let's call it X, INC. We are incorporated in the state of Massachusetts and have applied for 501(c)(3) status recently. I have filed to register our organization name under federal trademark law. Goods/services: Charitable fundraising services by means of musical concerts. This is what our organization is all about, we put on an orchestra concert every year to raise money for a specific charity. I have since come to find out that the trademarked name "X" is used elsewhere. An annual concert event called "X" has the same name as my organization. They are not registered in the federal trademark database but they have been using the event name "X" for the past 2 years which is longer than we have been using our organizations name. The event is a nation wide event it seems and they have popular modern artists performing to raise money for a non-profit organization. They are merely a fundraising support group in the Music and Entertainment Industry I could find no use of the name for an actual organization, only for the name of the event. The event is held in California. My concern is that as we grow and start to spread out of Massachusetts and if we go nationwide, are there any legal implications that would prevent us from using our organization name "X"? Let me know if I need to clarify anything. Thank you.

Also the difference between us, we purely perform ORCHESTRA concerts, they're mainstream pop / modern music and artists. Not sure if this makes a difference or not.

 

[army judge]

You should speak with your attorney.

You could be accused of trademark infringement or violation.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

You should speak with your attorney.
You could be accused of trademark infringement or violation.

True - regardless, they may have superior rights as first date of use governs, not running to the USPTO. As such, you may not be able to acquire a trademark that covers the entire US, which would seem your goal.