Hi everyone! I am currently in a very frustrating situation and sincerely hope someone could give me some advices.
To avoid legal issue, I can not list the name of the company which I am having a trademark dispute with.
I started running my yoga products business since January. It was not easy to start. My products use eco-friendly materials and more costly when manufactured. Consumers tend to buy cheaper products regardless of whether they are eco-friendly. There were not many sales in the first few months. I have invested a lot in advertising and spent a lot of time on social medias promoting the concept of eco-friendly yoga products. From this October, I started to see the result of my work; sales start to pick up and my brand has got much more recognition.
Seeing my business start to grow encourages me to work harder. In order to protect my brand, I applied to register my trademark via USPTO. While USPTO has approved the filing and published it, one of the biggest television network says no to our application. The company's lawyer told me that the company doesn't allow anyone to use "and the city" and wants me to change my brand name to avoid litigation. The reason the company gave is that they have a tv show with a name including that string of words.
I checked trademark database and found that most applications for brands including that string of words have been canceled. I guess those applicants (spa owner, grocery store owner,...) might have received calls from the lawyer of the big company.
I talked to a lawyer friend, and he told me that the tv network doesn't necessary have very solid arguments because tv shows and yoga products belong to two completely different trademark categories. However, a big company like that affords to hire lawyers and have a years-long case, while small business owner like me can hardly afford that.
Can someone please give me some advices? I wonder if small business can do something to defend ourselves even when it looks like a mission impossible.
Thank you so much in advance!
To avoid legal issue, I can not list the name of the company which I am having a trademark dispute with.
I started running my yoga products business since January. It was not easy to start. My products use eco-friendly materials and more costly when manufactured. Consumers tend to buy cheaper products regardless of whether they are eco-friendly. There were not many sales in the first few months. I have invested a lot in advertising and spent a lot of time on social medias promoting the concept of eco-friendly yoga products. From this October, I started to see the result of my work; sales start to pick up and my brand has got much more recognition.
Seeing my business start to grow encourages me to work harder. In order to protect my brand, I applied to register my trademark via USPTO. While USPTO has approved the filing and published it, one of the biggest television network says no to our application. The company's lawyer told me that the company doesn't allow anyone to use "and the city" and wants me to change my brand name to avoid litigation. The reason the company gave is that they have a tv show with a name including that string of words.
I checked trademark database and found that most applications for brands including that string of words have been canceled. I guess those applicants (spa owner, grocery store owner,...) might have received calls from the lawyer of the big company.
I talked to a lawyer friend, and he told me that the tv network doesn't necessary have very solid arguments because tv shows and yoga products belong to two completely different trademark categories. However, a big company like that affords to hire lawyers and have a years-long case, while small business owner like me can hardly afford that.
Can someone please give me some advices? I wonder if small business can do something to defend ourselves even when it looks like a mission impossible.
Thank you so much in advance!
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