# Question about copyright & trademark



## moneymadness (Dec 3, 2009)

i have a name i want to use for my t-shirts i'm designing but i'm still waiting to get the name trademark, in fact when i design my t-shirts on the computer. i use the name and logo as if i have it trademark. i went to gov trademark search nothing came up. only problem is, it's a common name. example that's say i want to use the word (money) for my t-shirt company and logo. but my name will be spell (money$).so if i and another person have the same name for our t-shirt business but the names are spell and design different .what legal issues,problems,etc could i run into later on.


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## PositiveDave (Dec 1, 2008)

ask a lawyer


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## kimura-mma (Jul 26, 2008)

If the name is that common, I would definitely agree with Dave, you need to consult an attorney. An attorney will be able to do proper searches and advise you what is the best course of action. Maybe you can get the word trademarked, maybe you can't. Generic words can be tough to register.

The system is set up to prevent multiple people from using the same brand names for the same type of product. As a general rule, "sight," "sound," and "meaning" are used to determine if two names are similar enough to be considered a conflict (so adding the $ symbol wouldn't help, as "money" and "money$" are basically the same). Either your attorney will find a conflict during the searching phase, or the trademark examining attorney assigned to your application will find a conflict (if this happens, you will not get your application fee back). Either way, you won't be allowed to trademark the name if someone else has a similar name. So the only legal issue you could have is if you continue the using the name after you find out you can't legally use it.


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## moneymadness (Dec 3, 2009)

kimura-mma said:


> If the name is that common, I would definitely agree with Dave, you need to consult an attorney. An attorney will be able to do proper searches and advise you what is the best course of action. Maybe you can get the word trademarked, maybe you can't. Generic words can be tough to register.
> 
> The system is set up to prevent multiple people from using the same brand names for the same type of product. As a general rule, "sight," "sound," and "meaning" are used to determine if two names are similar enough to be considered a conflict (so adding the $ symbol wouldn't help, as "money" and "money$" are basically the same). Either your attorney will find a conflict during the searching phase, or the trademark examining attorney assigned to your application will find a conflict (if this happens, you will not get your application fee back). Either way, you won't be allowed to trademark the name if someone else has a similar name. So the only legal issue you could have is if you continue the using the name after you find out you can't legally use it.


do trademark help from someone copy my t-shirts designs or do i need to get each design copyright. also does this keep someone from using your design and quotes. example you see alot of I LOVE NY,I LOVE HATERS,etc.


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## kimura-mma (Jul 26, 2008)

moneymadness said:


> do trademark help from someone copy my t-shirts designs or do i need to get each design copyright. also does this keep someone from using your design and quotes. example you see alot of I LOVE NY,I LOVE HATERS,etc.


Trademarking only protects the brand name or logo that is registered. To protect a design, you would to copyright it separately. Quotes, phrases, slogans, etc used on t-shirts would need to be trademarked separately if you wanted to protect them.

Two things to note...
When you copyright a design, you only have ownership of the exact design. If someone used the same concept, but designed it differently, that would be legal for them to do so.

Registering a design, brand name, logo, etc doesn't actually prevent anyone from stealing and using it. It is up to you to protect your registrations by suing infringers.


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