Trademark Question

[Shopclicks]

Using this hypothetical example: fluffy hats

If those words are trademarked, can they be used by anybody else to describe the type of hats they sell?

The same company uses fluffyhats. co.uk as their domain and have that trademarked as well which makes sense.

Thanks.

 

[DontAsk]

Using this hypothetical example: fluffy hats

If those words are trademarked, can they be used by anybody else to describe the type of hats they sell?

Covered by section 3 of the Trade Mark act, Absolute grounds for refusal of registration, so cannot be a trademark and anyone is free to use those words.

 

[Shopclicks]

Covered by section 3 of the Trade Mark act, Absolute grounds for refusal of registration, so cannot be a trademark and anyone is free to use those words.

Problem is .... it is registered as a trademark. (fluffy hats is just an example)

The words I have found trademarked are an adjective/noun combination just like fluffy hats.

 

[Shopclicks]

Obviously I don't want to implicate the business in question as they may well be playing within the rules.

But a better example (hypothetical), similar to their trademark, would be:

business forum

So using 'business' as an adjective to describe the type of forum.

'business forum' is not a registered trademark but there are variations around those two words registered.

 

[fisicx]

It really depends on the two words. If they are as generic as you suggest then the trademark can be challenged.

Objecting to other peoples trade marks and the legal costs

How to object and challenge someone else's trade mark and details of any legal costs involved.

www.gov.uk

 

[Shopclicks]

It really depends on the two words. If they are as generic as you suggest then the trademark can be challenged.

It seems ridiculous that it was ever allowed to be registered. If I didn't know better I'd say the Trademarks department was being run by AI But this was registered in 2016.

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

Is it purely just the descriptive words? Or are they tagged to something that is unique e.g. "Zoidtronix Fluffy Hats" ?

 

[Shopclicks]

Is it purely just the descriptive words? Or are they tagged to something that is unique e.g. "Zoidtronix Fluffy Hats" ?

No. Just the two words. I should add that it would be next to impossible to run a similar business without using the two words.

 

[eteb3]

Assume they are in the class for a business that it would be impossible to run without those words?

Afaik you could trademark “fluffy hats” to sell coffee. (Just not hats)

 

[Shopclicks]

False alarm. It's an image of the words that is registered. It doesn't read like that on their website but all clear on the words by the looks.

Thanks @fisicx

Thanks all for your comments.

 

[AmazonGeek]

One of the basic rules of trademarks is that it cannot just describe the product. So Apple can only have it because they are not selling apples. If someone managed to sneak it through somehow then I would think it could be challenged.

 

[fisicx]

If someone managed to sneak it through somehow then I would think it could be challenged.

Nothing got snuck through. Only the logo is trademarked. They are telling porkie pies on their website.

 

[toby39]

I am in a situation that is very similar to this, and I wondered if someone might be able to help me please.

There is a TradeMark, let's call it "Fluffy hats", and the other company has TM with protection under a Product class, and not any Service classes.

Let's say I registered a domain name called fluffyhats.co.uk and i used it to sell physical products (online / ecommerce) that were not called Fluffy Hats, although most could be described as fluffy - and they were all hats. They had brand and model names like "The Knitted Beanie 2000" and "The Furry Baseball Cap XT21" etc.

The other company hasn't selected any of the Sub-classes that are the same sub-classes of the specific types of products I am actually selling.

Q > To protect my ecommerce / online shop, would I need to register a Product Sub-class for "fluffy hats" or a Service Sub-class?

Remember, my shop uses the same name, but my actual products don't use this word as a brand or model name.

Your feedback would be most welcome. Thanks.

 

[Ozzy]

This might be something that @Trademarkroom Ltd could help with and explain further

 

[toby39]

This might be something that @Trademarkroom Ltd could help with and explain further

Thanks Ozzy .. I will check out their posts.

 

[TCH]

One of the basic rules of trademarks is that it cannot just describe the product

hence, perhaps, spellings like Krispy Krust

you can certainly have 'fluffy hats' at the top of your html, in-between the 'title' tags

that is what is proclaimed in the search results, just above the snippet

are trademarks less important now, what with domain-names and everything