Registered Trademarks "case-sensitive"?

[Stefan Kramer]

Is trademark registration "case-sensitive"? In other words, if "Foo" is
a registered trademark, does that also extend to "FOO" and "foo" etc.?

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Stefan Kramer \|/ skr...@cac.washington.edu
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[Carl Oppedahl]

On 4/23/98, Stefan Kramer <skr...@cac.washington.edu> wrote:
>
> Is trademark registration "case-sensitive"? In other words, if "Foo" is
> a registered trademark, does that also extend to "FOO" and "foo" etc.?

(You didn't say what country's trademark laws you are asking about; I
will assume you mean the United States.)

Some trademark registrations are for marks represented in plain block
letters. Others are "stylized", for example in a particular typeface or
color combination or arrangement of capital and lower-case letters. The
former are intended to apply to the mark regardless of the typeface and
color and typography. The latter are not.

But it should not be forgotten that the owner of a trademark
registration may easily have common-law trademark rights that cover
things that the registration does not.

If you really care about the answers to these questions, then you need
to consult competent trademark counsel who can take into account the
detailed facts of your situation.

If it's only general background information you are seeking, then you
may wish to take a look at http://www.patents.com/trademar.sht and other
sites cited there.

Carl Oppedahl
<ca...@oppedahl.com>

[Cumbow, Robert-SEA]

Stefan Kramer <skr...@cac.washington.edu> asked:

>
> Is trademark registration "case-sensitive"? In other words, if "Foo"
> is a registered trademark, does that also extend to "FOO" and "foo" etc.?

If a trademark is registered as words-only, then it is protected in any
typographical form in which those words are presented. If it is
registered as stylized words or as a design mark, then the mark's
protection is tied to the specific typographical and design elements of
the mark as registered. As a practical matter, however, minor
differences such as upper case instead of lower case are not likely to
prevent a conflicting mark from being attacked as confusingly similar
(assuming the goods/services are sufficiently related).

Bob Cumbow
<cu...@perkinscoie.com>

[Peter Groves]

In the UK (and I guess most other places) registration of a word-only
mark not case sensitive, but if the mark is a stylised word or a logo
the answer would be different. Case sensitivity in this case would
invlove a consideration of whether the infringing sign was similar to
the registered mark, and using different case for the letters is
unlikely to make a lot of difference.

This is not a legal opinion etc. etc.

Peter Groves
Davis & Co
London
<peter...@compuserve.com>

[Doug Lipstone]

Stefan Kramer <skr...@cac.washington.edu> wrote:
>
> Is trademark registration "case-sensitive"? In other words, if "Foo" is
> a registered trademark, does that also extend to "FOO" and "foo" etc.?

The short answer is no, trademark registration is not case sensitive,
therefore registration of "Foo" extends to all forms of such word as
well as similar marks for use on the same, related or competative goods
(BTW, unless a particular stylization is claimed as part of the mark,
the mark is registered in block letters and fully captialized,
therefore, the mark in question would be "FOO"). Change of case does
not alter the sound of the mark and arguably would not alter the
connotation or commercial impression of a mark. Therefore, the mere
change of case should not be enough to differentiate two otherwise
identical marks. The only situation that I can think of where it might
even be an issue is where the senior mark is registered with a
particular stylization where unique capitalization may be an element of
the mark. Therefore changing the capitalization could arguably create a
distinction. However, this seems simply to be too far of a stretch.

--
Douglas M. Lipstone, Esq.
Katz, Hoyt, Seigel & Kapor LLP
11111 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 820
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 473-1300 (office)
(310) 473-7138 (fax)
dlip...@khsk.com (office e-mail)
dl...@worldnet.att.net (home e-mail)