I spent some time (and money) discussing this issue with a trademark lawyer. A brief summary of what I learned is:
- Even if you don't own a U.S. Trademark for your mark, you still have some limited protection against others using your mark if you can prove you started using it first.
- Filing a trademark is always a good idea. It would cost several thousands of dollars, however to have a lawyer do it correctly. Yes, you can technically do it yourself, but after talking with a lawyer about all the technicalities related to trademarks, I would never trust myself to do it. Maybe others who have done it without a lawyer can give their advice.
- Registered domain names are only tangentially related to trademark rights.
Unless you have tons of cash to burn and have already launched and have good traction, I wouldn't worry about filing a US trademark application yet. What you NEED to do right now though, is search through the currently filed marks and make sure that you don't conflict with any existing ones. If there are any that you have concerns about, discuss the issue with a trademark lawyer and they'll let you know if you should worry about it. It's even better to have the lawyer search through the marks though, because they know what specifically to look for with conflicting marks.
I wouldn't worry about a big company actively trying to screw you over by filing a trademark for your company. What I would worry about is unknowingly stepping on a big company's existing trademark.
IANAL though. Hope this helps. If you have any doubts at all, talk to a lawyer. It may cost a couple hundred bucks for a consultation, but you'll learn a lot from picking their brain. Well worth the money.
- Even if you don't own a U.S. Trademark for your mark, you still have some limited protection against others using your mark if you can prove you started using it first.
- Filing a trademark is always a good idea. It would cost several thousands of dollars, however to have a lawyer do it correctly. Yes, you can technically do it yourself, but after talking with a lawyer about all the technicalities related to trademarks, I would never trust myself to do it. Maybe others who have done it without a lawyer can give their advice.
- Registered domain names are only tangentially related to trademark rights.
Unless you have tons of cash to burn and have already launched and have good traction, I wouldn't worry about filing a US trademark application yet. What you NEED to do right now though, is search through the currently filed marks and make sure that you don't conflict with any existing ones. If there are any that you have concerns about, discuss the issue with a trademark lawyer and they'll let you know if you should worry about it. It's even better to have the lawyer search through the marks though, because they know what specifically to look for with conflicting marks.
I wouldn't worry about a big company actively trying to screw you over by filing a trademark for your company. What I would worry about is unknowingly stepping on a big company's existing trademark.
IANAL though. Hope this helps. If you have any doubts at all, talk to a lawyer. It may cost a couple hundred bucks for a consultation, but you'll learn a lot from picking their brain. Well worth the money.