Question
Can someone register a state name as a trademark?
Can a person, or business, register a state name (ex: new york) as a trademark? For example, I wanted to register the term "new york" with the trademark office, would I be allowed to? What supporting documentation or links do you have to support or object to this? From what I gather through a supreme court hearing in the early 1900's this cannot be done, yet with internet domains it seems common practice.
2 months ago - 1 answers
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Domain registration is different from trademark, so that's a bit of a non sequitur. That said, the answer to your actual question is, "yes, you can get a trademark identical to a state name." Here's how you can look up federal trademarks: go to the US Patent and Trademark Office homepage: www ... Look under "Trademarks -> search TM database." Then click to "structured form search." Set the field to "full mark." Type in a state name. All the state's I've searched have marks. For example: Utah, font design, owned by Monotype: tarr ... Kansas, entertainment services rendered by a musical group (sound familiar?), tarr ... California, cigarettes, owned by Philip Morris, tarr ... There are numerous marks owned for all of these state names, and that's only at the federal level (states have their own trademark offices).
by Frank
2 months ago
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