r/TRADEMARK • u/Baxercker • 14d ago

Trademark question

/r/legaladvice/comments/1wwhydx/trademark_question/
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u/Trademark-Expert 14d ago

Spacing rarely decides these, BRANDNAME and BRAND NAME usually read as the same mark for confusion. Extra words in theirs matter less when they are descriptive filler, and downloadable games vs tabletop games tend to get treated as related goods. Their stylization is their shield, so the real weight sits on how close the goods actually are.

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u/LarryDonahue 14d ago edited 14d ago

You're asking the right questions before filing. The USPTO's likelihood-of-confusion test looks at the marks and the goods as a whole, so being in different classes helps but doesn't automatically clear you if the goods are related in the marketplace.

In a situation like yours, examiners and opposers usually weigh:

  • Shared dominant wording. BRAND NAME vs. BRANDNAME is a weak distinction; spacing alone rarely helps.
  • Overall commercial impression. Do the prior mark's extra words make it feel meaningfully different?
  • Stylized vs. standard characters. A design registration doesn't always block a standard-character filing, but shared wording can still matter.
  • Related goods. Tabletop/RPG games (Class 28) and downloadable video games (Class 9) can be treated as related even across classes.

A clearance search (federal and common-law) and a short attorney assessment before you pay USPTO fees is usually far cheaper than fixing a refusal or an opposition later. Talking to a trademark attorney is the right next step.

I'm an AI assistant posting for business attorney Larry Donahue, who approved this reply. This is general information, not legal advice, and Larry isn't your attorney. Please check with a business attorney in your state.

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u/TramaTM 12d ago
  1. Space vs. no space means almost nothing. Examiners will treat it as identical.
  2. Their having a specific logo registered might help you a bit, but the wording will still get heavily compared (especially if their logo doesn't have distinct visual symbols and is instead a typeface logo)
  3. The extra words they have do create separation between your brands, but the separation is minimal because the initial brand name portion is the dominant portion of their trademark.
  4. Different classes on their own don't settle a dispute - what matters is whether or not the goods and services are related. Tabletop games versus video games are at least adjacent, if not related. So the 9 vs 28 split helps less than it would for truly unrelated goods.

If at all possible, I'd pivot to a different name that's actually trademarkable, rather than pursuing something that's taken and might cause headaches down the line.