Trademarked Names

[abucan]

Guys,

I've been using Tess to search for trademarked names and it seems that practically everything under the sun is trademarked. For example, try any 2 or 3 letters and it's likely to be a registered trademark. So if I have a name like ubc.com or rec.com or uls.com and they call come up in the Tess search, does that mean I can be sued? It seems one can be sued for everything and anything in the US. Thank god I live in Asia :D

Please advise.

 

[Kate]

Well a TM is only valid for the classes in which it is registered. For example if you use UGC for something else then motion picture you should be fine (provided the same name is not also a TM in other classes filed by other holders). If you use 'Apple' for computer then you will hear from the lawyers.

 

[markfromslo]

Now what if your name is simply parked? It's not really being used for any cateogry, unless you can assume one through the ads it generates. If one can make that assumption, would you try to change the keyword for selecting ads? For example, If I had a name called BlueRobots.com and it was trademarked in the class of robots, could I stay out of trouble if I set the keyword to travel and caused travel ads to be displayed (as opposed to robotics ads)?