this post was submitted on 21 May 2024
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“Directly” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.
Try opening a finance company called Marcus or glasses called Warby Parker.
I could name my kid Walt Disney and start some shit.
If your kid wanted to start, for example, Disney Coin Laundry and had a sign that was clearly not affiliated with the Walt Disney company, they would have a chance to trademark it. Disney's lawyers would definitely try to fight it, but you would technically have the right to do so.
A trademark has to be protected and also can't be associated with a competitive business.
Reminds me of Hershey's Ice Cream, which is a separate and unrelated company to Hershey's Chocolate. The chocolate company tried several times to sue the ice cream company for trademark infringement but failed.
You just need to do the kind of mess that lands you in the news in such a way that people associate Name+Trade Area with you and you alone.
I'm pretty sure that if Madoff had tried to trademark his surname for financial services before he croaked it would have been granted.