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Somebody got a trademark for a domain I own. I am planning to launch my service in a week

I'm looking to name a startup (LLC) with what I think is a cool name. Upon researching, I found that no company with the same name exists, but that a product/service exists with the same name and that has a trademark (TM) on it. Can I still go ahead and form my company with the name I came up with? I can provide the example if necessary...Like if I wanted to name my company CoolBeans LLC, but then some company already had a service named CoolBeans (TM).

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You might easily get in trouble, especially if the tm is in related field. Look at this question and its answers: answers.onstartups.com/questions/42153/… – littleadv Sep 26 '12 at 15:40

marked as duplicate by littleadv, Christian, Zuly Gonzalez♦ Sep 27 '12 at 4:02

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This is a great question and the best advice out of the gate is that you should consult with an attorney (sometimes a simple question like this can be handled for free) and then make your choice based on his/her advice.

Searching the TESS database at uspto.gov will provide you a great way to determine if the name you have come up with possesses an active trademark. If one is found - my recommendation is to avoid it, as you're simply asking for an expensive lawsuit from trademark owners such as myself. We regularly watch the Internet for such things and very aggressively pursue those who infringe on our registered trademarks. In a nutshell, if you want to start a business and focus on the business - then do just that - focus on your business as its much more profitable than dealing with legal issues.

Best of Luck!

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This is answer is far too conservative. If the other party is selling vacuum cleaners and you are selling software then there is likely not a problem. In doing a trademark search for many marks, you will come up with several different companies using the same mark. A trademark lawyer would be very helpful though. – Kekito Sep 27 '12 at 2:41

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