Why Should I Register My Trademark When The Secretary Of State Can Give Someone The Same Business Name?
Why should I bother to register my trademark when the Secretary of State can issue somebody a business name that is very much like my trademark? A viewer asked that. I’m gonna answer it here in the next four minutes. I’m Angela Langlotz, trademark and copyright attorney. I go live here on weekdays to discuss trademarks and copyrights.
If you have trademark or copyright law questions, drop them into the comments below. I’ll answer them in a future live video. So I had a rather cranky fellow ask me — or actually just make sarcastic comments in a post on my Facebook page — and I wanted to respond. So here’s what he has to say. He says he was complaining about how why should you even register your trademark,
because all these other things can happen, he says. “Plus, when you get a federal trademark from the US Patent and Trademark Office in your state, the Secretary of State can issue your business name to another entity, LLC or corp if you registered your federal mark as an individual. No problem. Just litigate that too. And don’t expect the state government to understand that you were first.”
Well, there are a couple of issues that Pat seems to be confused about. Number one issue that he seems to be confused about is the difference between a trademark and a business name. Now, your business name and your trademark can be separate. It doesn’t matter if they’re the same. They can also be separate.
Now, just because somebody registers a business name doesn’t mean that they have the right to use that business name as a trademark if you have a federal registration. So just because the Secretary of State issues somebody a business name, that doesn’t mean that that individual or entity has the right to use an infringing trademark in the marketplace. Right. So what are some examples of this? So there is a company, a really big consumer products company called Colgate Palmolive.
And Colgate Palmolive makes a bunch of consumer products that don’t bear the Colgate Palmolive name. So I think they make Pledge furniture polish and Gain laundry detergent and a whole bunch of other consumer cleaning and household care products that don’t bear the Colgate Palmolive trademark. In fact, Colgate and Palmolive are both trademarks. But you don’t see Colgate Palmolive on consumer products as a trademark.
So that is a good example of a company, a rather big company that has a business name that is separate from their trademarks. So some of their trademarks, like Colgate, is a brand of toothpaste. Palmolive is a brand of dish soap. But aside from those two products, they have a bunch of other consumer products that don’t bear the trademark. So I want you to understand that your business name and your trademark can be different.
And just because someone is using a business name doesn’t mean that they are using that name as a trademark. For example, my trademark is Trademark Doctor. My business name is Angela V. Langlotz, a Professional Corporation. So my trademark and my business name are separate. They don’t have anything to do with one another.
So that’s a very good example of a business name and a trademark that are separate. So I just wanted to answer your question, Pat, and I hope you have a good day. If you have trademark or copyright law questions, drop them into the comments below. Find me online at Trademark Doctor Net. I’m on YouTube at video Trademark Doctor Net, YouTube and on Facebook Facebook com trademark doctor.
I’m on Facebook! “Like” my facebook page, to be notified every time I go LIVE. Do you have trademark questions? Message me on the Trademark Doctor Facebook page, and I’ll answer your questions on a future Live video.
Contact Dallas, Texas trademark attorney Angela Langlotz today to get started on a trademark application for your valuable brand.