OK....heres a question for anyone who may know. Maybe this would be under international laws if there is a thing for this area but. I know a guy that has a product he wants to start selling. He thought up a company name and no one in the US is using it in this area.....but upon deeper searching he finds that theres a company in the UK thats using that name for a similar product. To give you guys an example.....lets take Saber boats. The company make offshore powerboats here in the US......now i know that theres a Saber sailboat company (I don't know where they are) and lets say they are over seas someplace......both make boats but different kinds.......is there any conflict here??? Both being boat companys and all? Maybe sailboats are not a good comparision.....so lets say that theres a fictitional boat company called Saber in Spain that makes RIB's (like Zodiac's) any conflict there??? Thanks in advance

Anyone? No one??

Is he planning on selling overseas?

He should trademark the name.

The issue at hand is Intelectual Property Rights (IPR) dealing with registered trademarks. If the foreign company name is registered in the US your friend is SOL. If not, he's in business. You should be able do some more research on the web site of Customs and Border Protection (CBP). They should have a link dealing with IPR issues. Good luck.

http://www.customs.gov/xp/cgov/impor...forcement/ipr/

http://www.intellectual-property.gov.uk/

He can also do a search for trademark names at www.uspto.gov That is the site for patents and trademarks... You will need a tiff viewer to see images. Do a search... Alterna-tiff is a free download and works well.

If he owns an offshore boat however he can rule the world without worrying of any law in any country...

Of course...

Like we all do here.

Wally, there is an Apache pontoon boat company and powerboat company. How similar are the products?

I believe that it depends on in both companies are doing business internationally. If that company is registered over here he is sol. Also I believe some registrations are only valid in one state. I believe this is how my company is registered.

Payton-in your expample, Apache is actually a common name and I don't know if it can be trademarked. It would be like trying to trademark the word "sun" so you could charge every weatherman when he gives tomorrows forecast. This is why you see many companies creating words or phrases for their name. For example "Apache powerboats".

Thanks guys....