• olo's Trademark Cease & Desist Letter includes the following crucial elements:
   

   
   
  • an explanation of the trademark owner's rights
   
  • a description of the infringing activity
   
  • a request that the infringing activity stop
   
  • a statement of what will happen if the infringing continues
   
  • a request for payment (an "accounting") for the infringing activities
   
  • a time limit for future action

• Searching for unregistered trademarks is important because, even if a trademark is unregistered, its existence could prevent you from registering the trademark in your own name or from even using the trademark legally. And you don't want to violate someone else's trademark rights, especially if the trademark has been federally registered. In that case, a court can assume you knew it was federally registered, even if you did not, and you could have to pay the trademark owner's attorney fees as well as damages.
• In addition to checking for federally registered trademarks at the USPTO's website, it's a good idea to check your state's trademark database. The state trademark database is often part of the Secretary of State's office, though in some states it has a department of its own. You can also check one of several sites that search for trademarks registered in all 50 states, such as Thomson's SAEGIS service. This is an especially good idea if you'll be doing business in more than one state.

• • ster a name or other mark  
  • choose marks that competitors can't copy  
  • protect your mark from unauthorized use

• ademark provides you with the plain-English explanations and step-by-step instructions you need to navigate the requirements of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) and successfully register your unique mark. Learn how to:

   
   
• • choose marks that competitors can't copy
   
  • search for existing marks that might conflict with yours
   
  • register a name or other mark with the USPTO
     
   
  • protect and maintain your marks' legal strength
   
  • keep your mark safe from infringement
     
   
  • understand and resolve trademark disputes outside the courtroom
• Trademarks fall into two general categories: marks that identify goods or products (known as trademarks) and marks that identify services (known as service marks). Though you may occasionally see this distinction in action, these terms are, in fact, legally interchangeable, and the even more general term -- mark -- commonly is used to refer to both. In this book, we tilt towards the terms "trademark" and "mark" and seldom use "service mark."

• echnically speaking, a trademark is any word, design, slogan, sound, or symbol (including nonfunctional unique packaging) that serves to identify a specific product brand -- for instance,  Xerox (a name for a brand of photocopiers),  Just Do It (a slogan for a brand of sport shoes and sportswear),  Apple's rainbow apple with a bite missing (a symbol for a brand of computers), the name  Coca-Cola in red cursive lettering (a logo for a brand of soft drink).

   

  A service mark is any word, phrase, design, or symbol that operates to identify a specific brand of service -- for instance,  McDonald's (a name for a brand of fast food service),  Kinko's (a name for a brand of photocopying service),  ACLU (a name for a brand of legal organization),  Blockbuster (a name for a brand of video rental service), the U.S. Postal Service's eagle in profile (a symbol for a brand of package-delivery service),  CBS's stylized eye in a circle (a symbol for a brand of television network service), the Olympic Games' multicolored interlocking circles (a symbol for a brand of international sporting event).

   

  In addition to trademarks and service marks, federal trademark law protects two other types of marks -- certification marks and collective marks.
• Certification marks are only used to certify that products and services that are manufactured or provided by others have certain qualities associated with the mark. For example,  Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval
• A collective mark is a symbol, label, word, phrase, or other distinguishing mark that signifies membership in an organization (a collective membership mark) or that identifies goods or services that originate from the member organization (a collective trademark). For example, the letters "ILGWU" on a shirt a
• In recent decades, a type of trademark known as trade dress has become more important to businesses trying to build customer recognition. Trade dress includes product packaging, external and internal store decor, product shapes, and perhaps the look and feel of a business's Web page.

• Two Types of First Use

   

  There are two ways to qualify as a first user of a trademark:

   
   
  •   actual use -- the first to use the trademark on a product  that is distributed in the marketplace or, in the case of a  service mark, the first to use the mark in connection with  advertising or marketing of a service available to the public,  or
   
  •   intent to use -- the first to file an intent-to-use  application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office provided  that (1) the applicant files the application before the trademark  is actually used by another party and (2) the applicant later  puts the mark into actual use and completes the registration  process by filing an additional form and paying an additional  fee.

• Colors

   

  Colors help to distinguish products and services. A box of film that is gold and black connotes a Kodak product. A yellow arch indicates McDonald's food services. When color is used with a name or graphic design of a trademark (such as the red lettering and blue star of Converse footwear or the yellow and black coloring of the Cliff's Notes book series) it is registered as an element of the trademark.
• It was not until recently that the United States began to protect combinations of colors or single colors by themselves -- that is, without any additional text or graphics. In the 1980s, Owens-Corning registered the color pink for its fiberglass insulation and, in 1995, the Supreme Court ruled that a manufacturer of dry-cleaning press pads could claim registration for a green-gold color. ( Qualitex v. Jacobson Products, 514 U.S. 159 (1995).)
• It is possible for a mark to be "owned" by two or more separate businesses as long as no customer confusion is likely to result.
• If the underlying products or services of two businesses are quite different and don't compete, then customer confusion is unlikely. Similarly, if the underlying products or services are distributed and marketed in different channels or parts of the country, then again there is little likelihood of customer confusion.
• he Internet May Render Dual Ownership Obsolete. As more and more businesses use the Internet to market their goods and services, it will be harder and harder for two marks to coexist, since they will be sharing the same marketing channel, which happens to be national and even international.
• As mentioned in the Introduction, virtually all trademark disputes that make it to court are resolved on the basis of the answer to this one simple question: Is simultaneous use of the marks likely to cause customer confusion? If there is no customer confusion, then the courts see no reason to intervene.

13 more annotations...

• A service mark does the same thing as a trademark, but while trademarks promote products, service marks promote services and events. Some familiar service marks are: Google (online searching services), Netflix (video rental service), and the FedEx logo (delivery services).
• In order to be eligible for trademark protection, a word or phrase must be "distinctive" -- unique enough to help customers recognize a particular product in the marketplace -- rather than generic, like "The Coffee House." To determine whether a potential business name or product name is trademarkable, and how to trademark it, see Trademark: Legal Care for Your Business & Product Name, by Attorneys Stephen Elias and Richard Stim (Nolo), or the Qualifying for Trademark Protection FAQ.

• all of the digital images that are available on our website are in the public domain.

• nlike LogMeIn, TeamViewer is free for all non-commercial users.
• It doesn't offer browser-based remote control, instead using small utilities to connect between computers. TeamViewer is even available as a portable application you can carry around on your thumb drive. Whether you want to set up personal remote computing or you're pull frequent tech support duty, TeamViewer has a lot to offer.