There are no automatic trademark police.

Some countries have a more rigorous trademark application process that would prevent you registering an obviously illegitimate trademark.

My understanding is that the USA - with a Congress that is nearly half lawyers - prefers to let the courts decide. Funny, that.

My understanding is that the USA - with a Congress that is nearly half lawyers - prefers to let the courts decide. Funny, that.

Good point which also raises the issue of owning a trademark in different territories. For example Apple lost the iPhone trademark in Brazil because another company already owned it and was also refused the trademark in Mexico because it sounded similar to another existing company called iFone. They also lost out the trademark iPhone in China this year against a phone case manufacturer.
They had to stump up money to buy the licence for iPad as this trademark was already owned by Fujitsu.

They couldn't call their watch the iWatch as it was already trademarked by multiple different companies for different purposes in Europe and even though they called it AppleWatch they are still being sued by an Irish software developer because they are using the term iWatch in search keywords. Apple have also tried to retro-actively trademark iWatch for specific terms but are now also being sued by Swatch who also own the trademark.

As you can see if even a company that has enough cash to buy a small country and enough lawyers to populate said country has difficulty then imagine how difficult it can be for an individual who hasn't lawyered up.

There is nothing underhanded such as bribery going on here.

ok I didn't want to be rude, so my apologies for being so!

I didn't mean literally bribe just I wanted to say that you need lots of money to pay a lawyer (more money you have better you will be defended by your lawyer)

Is it unfair that somebody with more money can afford a better lawyer? Well thats just life. People with money can afford better cars, houses, yachts, food, education etc.. Rich people always have an advantage over less rich people that's just the way things work.

that is the fact of today's realty, unfortunately those with more money will be more powerful than others.

Nowadays messure of power is actually quantity of money they have, more money- more power-more possibilities.

This doesn't mean that you need to go to court though. Just make sure you do everything properly. If you want to use a name don't just use it. Visit an IP lawyer first and they will do the research and be able to give you you a definitive answer Yes or No you can use this name. This is usually a straight up one off fee. I'm not sure how much but I'd guess around $150 - $500. This won't 100% guarantee that nobody will sue you ever but, it does guarantee (in fact the lawyer will have insurance to cover this) that any of the millions of chancers who can send you letters trying to make a claim are covered.

thanks for that advice

They couldn't call their watch the iWatch as it was already trademarked by multiple different companies for different purposes in Europe and even though they called it AppleWatch they are still being sued by an Irish software developer because they are using the term iWatch in search keywords. Apple have also tried to retro-actively trademark iWatch for specific terms but are now also being sued by Swatch who also own the trademark.

that means that even if you use similar word to existing trademark the owner can sue you even for that.

But can he do that if you use it in different sector?

can he do that

People can sue you at any time and for any reason.

The more useful questions are:

1. How do I minimise the chance of that happening?

2. How do I minimise the chance of them succeeding if it goes to court?

If you're not sure, steer clear.

Lawyers are a necessary part of doing business, and by releasing programs to the public you are doing business.


Many people have picked up stereotypical views of lawyers that the profession is all about extracting money from people, that they are evil profiteers, or that lawyers are a blight to humanity.

While there are people who behave immorally in every field --- including computer programmers who write destructive programs that steal bank accounts or encrypt hard drives unless you pay -- most people are regular folks who are trying to do good generally. Laws are written to codify what society accepts as tolerable behavior, setting up rules of what we accept and what we refuse to accept. While the cost of a lawyer tends to be higher than people want to pay, around $150-$200 per hour in many US cities, the price is not unusually high for professional work.

IP law is based on the idea that if you build something of value, even when it is intangible it should generally be protected. When George Lucas and movie studios spend a fortune to create a brand around Star Wars, building up an entire galaxy with its own rules, the laws are that they should control both the tangible and intangible things they created for some period of time so they can profit from their efforts. The laws are currently built to prevent outsiders from taking over the names of the products and characters for their own, or from building derivative storylines that force the story writers into a different direction than they wanted to take it, or from directly taking the product as a whole and selling copies when they are unauthorized.

It is not about having the most expensive lawyers. If somebody created a thing of value, such as making a brand name popular through marketing and quality products, or making a game character popular through marketing and quality products, or making a thematic world popular through marketing and quality products, then when somebody comes in and attempts to use that name or character or thematic world is has nothing to do with the fact that someone has better lawyers, it has everything to do with the fact that somebody infringed on their works.

These groups are generally not trying to sue out of malice. They are generally not trying to sue to extract your money. They are trying to sue because someone came in and stomped on their existing valuable work. (There are a few people who do it out of malice or to extract your money, but like the virus-writing programmers or the con-man in the street, they are the exception rather than the rule.)


When you create a product you can talk with a lawyer who is skilled at making sure you don't accidentally use something that somebody else has built value around. That is one job of IP lawyers, and they're quite good at it. If they mess up and you get sued, they've got insurance to generally cover your costs.

They do have a cost, just like all professional services have a cost, but it is not very high considering the work they do. Much like getting a licensed plumber versus an unskilled person who can visit the hardware store and hope they can fix the pipes, or a licensed mechanic versus someone who tinkered around with motors a few times, or a licensed and bonded construction crew rather than the people standing around in front of the hardware store on a weekend morning, there is a cost involved for the work of skilled professionals but you know those professionals will do a professional job with guaranteed results. The cost of hiring a lawyer for a few hours of work is not very high compared to other costs of doing business, such as the cost of hiring any other worker like hiring a programmer or hiring an artist or hiring a janitor.

1. How do I minimise the chance of that happening?

seems that I already have the answer to that question

after all I will have to talk with the lawyer to ensure that I didn't use anything that is someones property even if the word is not his property at all he can still sue me for using it.

2. How do I minimise the chance of them succeeding if it goes to court?

having a better lawyer is generally enough to win

because if you have a better lawyer even if not defending your word or IP you can still win and take that from actuall owner and if you are a owner you can lose your word if your oponent's lawyer is better than yours and vice versa

Lawyers are a necessary part of doing business, and by releasing programs to the public you are doing business. Many people have picked up stereotypical views of lawyers that the profession is all about extracting money from people, that they are evil profiteers, or that lawyers are a blight to humanity. While there are people who behave immorally in every field --- including computer programmers who write destructive programs that steal bank accounts or encrypt hard drives unless you pay -- most people are regular folks who are trying to do good generally. Laws are written to codify what society accepts as tolerable behavior, setting up rules of what we accept and what we refuse to accept. While the cost of a lawyer tends to be higher than people want to pay, around $150-$200 per hour in many US cities, the price is not unusually high for professional work. IP law is based on the idea that if you build something of value, even when it is intangible it should generally be protected. When George Lucas and movie studios spend a fortune to create a brand around Star Wars, building up an entire galaxy with its own rules, the laws are that they should control both the tangible and intangible things they created for some period of time so they can profit from their efforts. The laws are currently built to prevent outsiders from taking over the names of the products and characters for their own, or from building derivative storylines that force the story writers into a different direction than they wanted to take it, or from directly taking the product as a whole and selling copies when they are unauthorized. It is not about having the most expensive lawyers. If somebody created a thing of value, such as making a brand name popular through marketing and quality products, or making a game character popular through marketing and quality products, or making a thematic world popular through marketing and quality products, then when somebody comes in and attempts to use that name or character or thematic world is has nothing to do with the fact that someone has better lawyers, it has everything to do with the fact that somebody infringed on their works. These groups are generally not trying to sue out of malice. They are generally not trying to sue to extract your money. They are trying to sue because someone came in and stomped on their existing valuable work. (There are a few people who do it out of malice or to extract your money, but like the virus-writing programmers or the con-man in the street, they are the exception rather than the rule.) When you create a product you can talk with a lawyer who is skilled at making sure you don't accidentally use something that somebody else has built value around. That is one job of IP lawyers, and they're quite good at it. If they mess up and you get sued, they've got insurance to generally cover your costs. They do have a cost, just like all professional services have a cost, but it is not very high considering the work they do. Much like getting a licensed plumber versus an unskilled person who can visit the hardware store and hope they can fix the pipes, or a licensed mechanic versus someone who tinkered around with motors a few times, or a licensed and bonded construction crew rather than the people standing around in front of the hardware store on a weekend morning, there is a cost involved for the work of skilled professionals but you know those professionals will do a professional job with guaranteed results. The cost of hiring a lawyer for a few hours of work is not very high compared to other costs of doing business, such as the cost of hiring any other worker like hiring a programmer or hiring an artist or hiring a janitor.

very good explanation

thanks for that!

While there are people who behave immorally in every field --- including computer programmers who write destructive programs that steal bank accounts or encrypt hard drives unless you pay -- most people are regular folks who are trying to do good generally. Laws are written to codify what society accepts as tolerable behavior, setting up rules of what we accept and what we refuse to accept. While the cost of a lawyer tends to be higher than people want to pay, around $150-$200 per hour in many US cities, the price is not unusually high for professional work.

I understand that lawyer is difficult and professional job but paying 200$ per hour for few advises is a little too much imo

I would give 100$ most just for answers to few questions

IP law is based on the idea that if you build something of value, even when it is intangible it should generally be protected. When George Lucas and movie studios spend a fortune to create a brand around Star Wars, building up an entire galaxy with its own rules, the laws are that they should control both the tangible and intangible things they created for some period of time so they can profit from their efforts. The laws are currently built to prevent outsiders from taking over the names of the products and characters for their own, or from building derivative storylines that force the story writers into a different direction than they wanted to take it, or from directly taking the product as a whole and selling copies when they are unauthorized.

Now I understand that too, once I make my work all those laws that are now standing on my way will eventually

protect my work and I will profit from that too.

But is there a way to ensure that you are not infringing someones property besides talking with a lawyer and paying 200$ for that?

But is there a way to ensure that you are not infringing someones property besides talking with a lawyer and paying 200$ for that?

Sure, you could spend a lot more by going to law school yourself and learning all this. That's what you're paying the lawyer for as well as the actual service.

For trade marks there are four categories:

Generic - name of a particular genus or class

Descriptive - identifies a characteristic or quality

Suggestive - implies a characteristic

Arbitrary - bears no relationship to the product

The top of the list is considered the "weakest" trademark where the bottom is the strongest. You can trade mark any of the bottom three. Generic means boils down to the fact that you are using a word that has to be used to describe the product. If I made pencils and my brand name was "pencils" I would not be able to trademark it because the word is part of what the product is. But if i called them "Smooth Pencils" that could be descriptive, so I might be able to get a trademark on the phrase (not the individual words), "writer's sword" would probably be suggestive, and something like "Soccer Balls" would be arbitrary. Even though soccer ball is a generic word it has nothing to do with pencils so I would have a trademark on PENCILS CALLED SOCCER BALLS, not the phrase soccer ball. With the constructions company called "Wall" that is a suggestive name so it would be trademarkable.

It is impossible to completely eliminate all risk of lawsuits. The point of worrying about laws is to avoid a large or even medium chance of a lawsuit. Ususally knowing what the laws are and common sense will be enough to avoid troubles.