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0 pointsJohnFen3y ago0 comments

> I've been thinking about trying to trademark it, but it's expensive and complicated, especially if I can't get a trademark personally and transfer it to a business in the future

Trademarks are a bit of a pain, but you totally can get the trademark registered to you personally and transfer it to a different entity later.

The main things people miss about trademarks is that they're category-specific (If I have trademark "Foo" for a food product, that doesn't prevent someone else from getting trademark "Foo" for sporting goods), and that you have to actively be doing business (in that category) using the trademark first. You can't register the trademark until after you've been engaging in commerce with it.

0 pointsJohnFen3y ago0 comments

> I've been thinking about trying to trademark it, but it's expensive and complicated, especially if I can't get a trademark personally and transfer it to a business in the future

Trademarks are a bit of a pain, but you totally can get the trademark registered to you personally and transfer it to a different entity later.

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3 comments · 1 top-level

ryan293y ago· 2 in thread

> You can't register the trademark until after you've been engaging in commerce with it.

Is that US? I'm in Canada. I think we can register before commercial use [1]:

> Another of your responsibilities as the owner of a trademark is to use the trademark in Canada. If you do not use it, the registration could be expunged from the Register of Trademarks by the Registrar. The Registrar could start summary expungement proceedings, after three years beginning on the day on which a trademark is registered

To me, that sounds like you have to use it within 3 years of registering and I didn't see anything requiring commercial use prior to registration in the linked info.

We also have a ~3 year backlog for applications and I don't know if the trademark ends up registered with the filing date or the issuance date. It's the kind of thing that's complicated enough that I wouldn't want to risk screwing it up, so I'm waiting until I can pay someone that knows what they're doing.

TLDR; It's complicated and expensive, especially compared to the simplicity of pulling out a credit card and registering a dozen TLDs. Lol.

1. https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/canadian-intellectual-prope...

JohnFenOP3y ago

Oh, yes, I'm sorry. I was talking about the US.

stanleydrew3y ago

You can register before commercial use in the US (filing status 1B). But there is a deadline before which you do have to start using the mark in commerce, and then update your application with the USPTO, otherwise it will expire.

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