If a product is trademarked in Europe but not in USA can I use it here?

Question

Im starting a business soon. After some searching on the interent, I found there is a product with the same name that I want for my business. The product is only in made in Europe and the products are not sold here as far as I can tell by my research. I wouldl not be selling or manufacturing any products, I am just offering services - language tutoring and maybe translating later on. Would there be any problems with this?

Answer 1

Have you checked at the USPTO yet? If not, check here: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=tbmkb6.1.1 -- USPTO – Preliminary Search of Federal trademarks.

Determining if marks infringe can be tricky and each situation varies from another.

The general rules to keep in mind are:

1) Are the names similar in Sound, Appearance or Meaning?

2) Are the industries the same or similar to one another?

3) Are the names confusingly similar to the average consumer? In other words, could customers be confused and assume that both companies are affiliated?

4) Do the trade areas cross? What about the advertising routes -- are the products/services advertised in common places?

Now, even if it's clear at that link, does not necessarily mean it's okay to use. Prior to investing your time, money & effort into a name, it is strongly advised that comprehensive research be conducted to ensure that the name you're interested in is truly available.

This entails searching the pending & registered Federal and State trademark files as well as the US National Common-Law files. Then, if clear, you can decide if you would like to file for a Federal or a State trademark.

I listed some links where you can do some preliminary name checking. However, please be aware that this is merely scratching the surface of what's out there. Only comprehensive research will tell you if the name is truly available. But, these links are free & a great place to start, so I'd try them out first.

There are other sites that offer free searching capabilities in conjunction with their commercial services, so I'm not able to post those links due to the Yahoo! TOS. You'll also want to check domain names & yellow pages, so simply do a search for "free domain name search" and "national yellowpages" and the appropriate links will pop up.

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

Answer 2

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Answer 3

To be safe you would want to do a trade mark/name search. For instance I have the name of my business registered in various countries in europe as well as here in the US. It is common for a european or foriegn company to register there successful business name in the US. It reserves there name for exclusive use here in the US (the largest market in the world) even if they don't use it. Here's an example, gross but effective for illustration. Who would have ever thought Hitler's car for the people would be popular in the US after 1945? You do know VW right? It was a long time before it could be used but, you can bet the name was registered long ago. You risk being sued for damages or so called damage to the existing companies reputation, or even damaging the marketability of the name, if you use their name and it's registered. A company or product name has a value. It could be small or huge. The court would determine that.

Answer 4

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