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Registration of Surnames as Individual Trademarks
Individual trademarks can be described as marks, symbols, words, devices or phrases which are used by an individual to distinguish the goods and services for which such have been registered from that of competitors’.
The question has been asked as to whether it is possible to register personal names or surnames as individual trademarks. To answer the question one has to look at further requirements for a trademark.
The mark should distinguish goods and services. As such the users must be able to recognize and associate the name or phrase with the goods and services registered for. As such individual trademarks cannot be used simply to identify a person.
Certain considerations come into play in such a scenario including whether the surname is a common one or a rare one, whether the term or phrase has another meaning other than the personal or surname of the applicant, whether it looks more like a surname than for instance, a trademark and whether the trademark will be associated with any person connected to the trademark applicant and lastly whether the styling of the letters can be done in a manner that can be commercially applied.
When looking at the above, it can be seen that it would be a rather difficult process, but if the surname or personal name is to be used for the distinguishing goods and services rather than identifying the individual it may be possible if all conditions can be met.
There is the example of Gottlieb pinball machines, where the name Gottlieb has become associated with such over time.
The best advice for the registration of individual trademarks will be to contact our attorney team to evaluate your particular case for strengths and weaknesses.
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