Brand name similar to other brand name
Hello,
A friend of mine is away from the PC for a few days and has asked me to do some digging on an issue he is having. He is setting up a new brand selling a product in the TOYS & GAMES category. He has not yet registered for a brand. His brand name is (hidden) ‘exampleUK’ but there is another brand that is actually registered on Amazon that is just ‘example’ (without the UK on the end)
The other seller that is branded is selling a toolbox and something completely unrelated to the brand name they are using (definetely a cheap copycat chinese product and listing).
My friend has applied for a trademark of ‘example’ (in the UK)(again, without the UK on the end which actually matches the brand name this other company are using). It sounds like a very confusing situation but i wanted to get some answers for him so thought i would ask some of you guys. I’ve tried to read through the brand name policy and trademark rules etc… but have no answer.
Amazon are declining my friends brand registration because its too closely linked with the other seller that is selling a toolbox. Once my friend has his trademark approved in the UK (as there are no other trademarks even closely linked to it) will he stand more of a chance?
I hope that all makes sense and i apologise in advance if it doesnt.
18 replies
Seller_7VbclcPFFRTnc
aside from the name - surely amazon are declining the brand registry as they don’t have a trademark ?
has the other seller - exampleuk - actually got a UK trademark in the name ?
Seller_24Bec1n3QCVmi
To be honest, what your friend is proposing to do seems really spiteful I must say. Registering a trademark for a brand that someone else is already using (and presumably established) just to get them to stop using it on Amazon isn’t really the best way to start a brand.
We have trademarks for all of our brands but we’ve built them up from the ground up. Anyone trying to use our names confusingly similar to our brands will get challenged as that’s how trademarks work, but I’m not sure your friend would have a leg to stand on if the company using ‘example’ can show they were using the brand before your friend applied for the trademark (and btw every Amazon listing shows the date the product was first available so pretty easy to prove when the brand name was first used on Amazon).
With regards to ‘example’ vs ‘exampleUK’, I would be suprised if the IPO would allow both to be registered as they would be considered too similar and could lead to confusion.
One final thought is that if Amazon are rejecting your friends application for ‘exampleUK’ because it’s too similar to ‘example’, then it sounds as though ‘example’ is already registered for brand protection so you’re friend is probably better off looking at another name.
Seller_qZO3ZCjoBXEeL
His current ‘brand’ is exampleUK, but he is applying for trademark example. There is another seller already on Amazon using the brand example.
This is going to cause all sorts of issues I would expect. Assuming the trademark goes through and remains unchallenged, the first problem is that your friend’s current brand doesn’t match his trademark. You cannot register a trademark of example and have an Amazon brand of exampleUK.
If example as a brand is already in use on Amazon and is brand registered (you mentioned that the name wasn’t trademarked by anyone else yet, but without the actual name it is impossible to check) then I doubt that your friend will have any success using example as his own brand on Amazon. It is possible, after a huge amount of effort you might eventually get the other seller kicked off due to the trademark, but at that point the other seller would have every incentive to pursue overturning your friend’s trademark due to prior use.
I think the first and always sensible course of action is to brand and trademark in an uncontested way. If you enter into branding that is going to be confusing or challenged from the outset, back off and choose a different course of action.
Seller_rZax50qrWcaoG
Has the other Amazon brand name actually been granted by IPO?
Years ago it became the norm for sellers to “brand” their name without any Amazon checks to see if it was actually registered with IPO, these names are slowly disappearing so there is a chance the other sellers name could be removed.
It would be far more helpful if you disclosed the brand name(s) as this would allow forum members to accurately check the trademark history of both names.
Lastly, a word of caution; Check to ensure the word mark is registered and not just a symbol (logo) as this won’t (as far as I’m aware) be acceptable with Amazon.
Seller_uvjVjro7zSadv
I think you should get the UK trademark evidence then start to talk with amazon, rather than the other way around.
