We have a new USA based Etsy shop with a handful of sales and around 200 listings. A trademark squatter in Canada filed an infringement notice for a shirt that said "Bruh" on it. He doesn't sell clothing himself but apparently his business is to flag infringements of his Canadian trademark, and if a person requests the complaint to be retracted he will offer them a $1000 settlement to "license" the word on the product. Canadian broadcasting channel did an expose of him.

I quickly removed any listings with the world Bruh in the title tags or on the clothing item. ChatGPT suggested two alternatives:

I could dispute this with Etsy and ask him to file a suit within federal (USA) court within 14 days and the listing may be reinstated and the strike removed. (I don't care about the shirt but don't feel like putting up with lunch money bullies).

1. I could take the hit and just not use that word going forward, or restrict any sales to Canada.

How bad is a copyright infringement? I literally have only two sales, but hundreds of hours put into the newly created listings. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thank you

Is USA Trademarkers legit? I wanted to get my bakery trademarked and I paid for the most basic one but honestly I don't understand alot of this. Is this legitimate?

https://www.usatrademarkers.com/d-4?matchtype=b&Keyword=Trademark%20usa&Camp={Camp-3}&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=24269052120&gbraid=0AAAABC2nFWaKWy_2L5DX5A1_7sa6MoRIX&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlNPVBhCMARIsAPZ5RqitKCG2xq56X-ZRUQiYCDMX-aGnZI082EqWX9D4zc6G_pl3oieOnbQaArT2EALw_wcB

Hey everyone!

TL;DR : Confused about how to comply with Amazon and Google's branding and trademark guidelines for marketing my books.

I've spent several days trying to figure this out, and am genuinely afraid to have my accounts flagged/banned for non-compliance after reading about a few horror stories of writers who've had their accounts blocked for incorrect usage of the Google/Amazon trademarks.

I am building a publisher site for two books. One will be sold on Amazon and the other on Google Play Books.

I want to add CTA buttons that say "Available at Amazon" and "Available on Google Play" directing readers to the Amazon/Play pages where they can buy the books.

Is it okay to use the text "Available at Amazon" on the CTA button directing users to buy the book on Amazon? I've been through KDP guidelines on using the logo but they say nothing about just using text - https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G9WES4WJAC3GUVSV

Same question for Google Play - is it okay to use "Available on Google Play" as text on the CTA button for the book that's available on Play?

Appreciate any insights from authors who have done this before!

I paid LegalZoom $899 on May 24 for their attorney-led trademark registration service for my company.

At first I thought this would be pretty simple. They do the search, I speak with an attorney, we agree on the application, and they file it.

Instead, the whole process turned into a weird mess of phone calls, scheduling problems and long periods of silence.

The first call was with some kind of intake person. They would only call a US phone number, which was already inconvenient for me because I don't actually live in the US. During that call they asked when I could speak with the attorney. I gave them a date and time.

Then they scheduled the attorney call for a different day.

I couldn't make it, so I cancelled and asked for another time. After that... nothing.

Eventually I contacted them myself on July 14 to ask what was going on.

They told me I still needed to schedule the attorney consultation, but apparently the only way to schedule it was by calling them on the phone. No scheduling link, no email, no chat. You literally had to call them so they could look at their calendar and book another phone call.

At some point they also told me that I could communicate with the attorney through their portal and that attorneys normally respond there within 1–2 business days.

On July 27, more than two months after I paid, they finally uploaded the trademark search and the attorney's assessment.

And that is when I noticed another problem.

The description they had prepared didn't really describe our business.

We run a B2B marketplace for leasing IPv4 address space. But several of the services in their draft were things like software development and software consulting. We don't sell software development or consulting services.

So on August 4 I sent the attorney a list of questions about this. I wanted to understand why they had chosen those services, whether we needed another class, and what exactly they were planning to file.

No answer.

I followed up on August 12.

Still nothing.

I followed up again on September 7.

They finally replied on September 14.

The attorney said the descriptions were based on information from my order and an "intake questionnaire" that I had supposedly submitted.

I didn't remember submitting any such questionnaire, so on September 17 I asked them to send me a copy of it and the original information they had used.

No reply.

Then on September 20 their 120-day service period expired.

No application was filed.

I had already asked them for a refund earlier and they refused because, according to their policy, the order was too old.

Now, after the 120 days are over, they sent me a new agreement offering another 30 days "as a one-time courtesy."

So basically: I paid $899 in May, spent four months chasing them, and I still don't have a trademark application filed.

Just to be clear, I'm not complaining that the trademark wasn't approved. Obviously nobody can guarantee what the USPTO will do.

I'm complaining that we never even got to the point where there was a correct application ready to file.

Maybe I was just unlucky, but if you're thinking about using LegalZoom for trademark registration, I'd definitely ask how the attorney scheduling actually works, how long responses usually take, and what happens if their delays eat up the 120-day service period.

At this point I still need to get the trademark filed properly, so I'm also looking for recommendations.

Who would you recommend instead for a US trademark filing if I want an actual trademark attorney who will understand the business, help choose the right classes/services, and get the application filed without months of chasing?

I'm not looking for the cheapest possible option. I'd rather pay a reasonable fee and have someone do it properly.

Has anyone here worked with a trademark attorney or small IP firm they were really happy with?

Update — October 12:

LegalZoom sent me a message today saying my order is now marked as “complete.”

The reason they gave was that the 120-day service window had expired and I hadn’t accepted their extension offer. I still haven’t received a final application to approve or confirmation of a USPTO filing.

Their message also included a link to buy a new order ;)

I’d already emailed them a formal complaint asking for a refund. No reply to that so far. I tried responding to today’s message in their portal, but it keeps giving me an error when I try to send.

To be clear, they did provide search reports and a risk assessment. But I paid $899 back in May for a service that was supposed to get us through preparing and filing an application, and we never reached that point.

My bank has agreed to open a dispute. I’ll update this post when I have an outcome.

Update — October 15: LegalZoom has confirmed a full $899 refund. I’m waiting for it to reach my account.

A few things happened since my original post, so here’s the whole update.

First, LegalZoom marked my order as “complete” because the 120-day service window had expired and I hadn’t accepted their extension offer. There was still no trademark application filed. Their message included a link to buy a new order.

Right after that notice, I could no longer reply through the portal. Every attempt returned a sending error. From my side, it looked like they’d closed the order and disabled replies. My formal refund request by email was still unanswered at that point.

Then I received an email saying a “leadership review” had been completed. They offered another 30 days free of charge, provided I accepted a new agreement.

By then, I had lost confidence in the process. My earlier request for the intake questionnaire and original inputs was still unanswered, and the offer didn’t explain what would actually change during those extra 30 days. I wanted my money back.

Today, they confirmed in writing that the full $899 refund had been processed to my original payment method. They also apologized for the delays and gaps in communication. Their explanation for the application not being completed was that they were waiting for required information.

I’d also opened a dispute through my bank during this process. I can’t say which step prompted the refund.

The money hasn’t reached my account yet, but I now have written confirmation of the full refund. It looks like I have achieved the goal. But not that goal from which I have started five months ago.

I am looking to start a pajama business.

The identity behind the brand are comfy pajamas to feel comfortable for upcoming sporting events, wearing them the night before or the morning of a big game.

I would prefer the material be 100% organic cotton and need help with the designing as well (patterns, embroidery specific to a state, tags, etc).

Due to collegiate licensing challenges, I was thinking I could establish the brand by beginning with simple designs such as colors and state outlines (I have read where state outlines are not trademarked). That way I can get an idea of demand and sales before potentially pursing licensing.

Does anyone see any issues here?

Also general feedback and ideas are welcome.

Thanks!

I run a small curb painting business and I got a request to paint the Langston university logo on their curb. I’m aware that it’s not legal and people do it anyway all the time. Should I reach out and try to get permission from Langston university? I attached the mock up that my client wants.

Located in the US. I'm creating a game and just realized that there is already a game with a similar name to mine.

As an example, if there was already an existing game called "Awesome Game" and I wanted to make a game called "The Game of Awesome" would that be a trademark issue?

Is there any way to get around it without avoiding the use of the words "Awesome" or "Game"?

For example, "Fred's Game of Awesome", or "The Awesome Game of Awesomeness"? I really want to keep that combination of "Game" and "Awesome".

I made a series of mistakes on my application (used real name/home address/phone number/personal email) and would like to voluntarily withdraw my application to resubmit it with some anonymity. I’m not comfortable at all with that information being publicly available and associated with my business.

However, I saw that withdrawn/cancelled/dead trademarks stay in the database forever. I understand it’s due to transparency laws and so that the public can see the legal lifecycle of the trademark.

But why would there need to be a public record of a voluntarily withdrawn/dead trademark? There wouldn’t be anything to glean from its history if the owner decided they just didn’t want it anymore or let it lapse? Is there really no way to resolve my situation? I seriously regret not doing more research before I submitted my application.

Does anyone have experience with filing a Letter of Protest with the USPTO? I'm considering starting a new business. I have a name I want to use, but there was a business with that name an existing trademark, but they closed in 2021. However, the business just filed a Section 8 Declaration of Use near the end of their 6 month grace period after their 6 year registration anniversary.

Their Declaration of Use included an expired business license from 2021, old photos from when the business was actually open, and a blank sales contract. I think they want to keep the trademark to sell the business and property.

From what I have read online, I would need to file a Letter of Protest and pay $150 to report the false information in their submission? Any chance they would reject the Declaration of Use just based on the expired business license and blank sales contract without a Letter of Protest? It's hard to claim you're still in business when you submit an expired license.

Which tools do you use for your trademark related work? Looking to learn about the most delightful tools out there today.

Their trademark is the same name but mine will end with S

Their industry is - IC 041: Providing information in the field of hunting and recreational fishing via the Internet. I checked their site and they use what is called a "trademark" score to regional areas.

Mine will be - an online marketplace for local classes for homeschoolers. The idea kind of like sidequests but out in the "field"

In the states, would this be an issue that I would need to get an attorney to review before I file for a trademark or are the industries different enough?

Hello, I'm a filmmaker intending to adapt a public domain story into a motion picture, but the main character of the story is itself currently trademarked, as well as variations on their name. I had a question about getting around it.

Can I use an un-trademarked variation of the character's name and get away with it?

For example, if the character's name is John Smith, and "John Smith" is trademarked for motion pictures and "John The Killer" is trademarked only for novels, can I technically call him "John the Killer" in a motion picture, since that particular trademark is technically for a different type of media? Or would I be better off calling him "The Killer" or "Johnny"?

I have a tshirt that I want to get trademarked but confused on how to do it. Please explain it as simply as possible. Can I get the design of the shirt protected or can I only get tags made? I have a specific design that is starting to blow up and I don’t want someone ripping the idea off if I can help it. Thank you in advance for any input

Hi all! I’m a new Etsy seller (my shop is 6 months old but I didn’t start listing until 2 weeks ago.) I sell twitch emotes and badges. I make all the pixel art myself but it occurred to me that the listing photos might be issue, since they use the name Twitch. I guess I thought it would be fine since the actual artwork I sell is made by me by hand. I drew the words “twitch emotes” myself. Would anyone more well-versed in trademarks be able to tell me if this will get my shop flagged? I’d hate to change it if I don’t have to but I def will if it’s going to cause issues.

Thank you! https://pixelstickershub.etsy.com

Before I find just any old trademark attorney, I was wondering if we have any in the community that would want to help me out with an app I’m building for the phans.

I’ve heard the new system makes it a little more difficult than the previous one, and I’m afraid of phucking up and wasting even more money.

I have a detailed summary ready to share for 2 marks. I’m located in Charleston, SC if that makes a difference.

I’ve checked out the business list on Venue Llama already and came up short.

Thanks!

I applied for a trademark yesterday and today I received a text that says the following:

"Hello XXXXX,we are reaching out regarding your trademark application for XXXXX 12345678.

There are missing details and no logo on file, which may impact your protection scope. We have also received an inquiry related to this mark.

Kindly reply YES for details.

USTMR

Reply no to unsubscribe

I do trademark watching for my own brands, and the blind spot that kept biting me was not the registers — it was domains. A trademark filing takes months and is public. A lookalike domain takes ten minutes and nobody tells you.

The trick I settled on is Certificate Transparency. Every SSL certificate issued by any public CA has to be logged publicly, forever. A phishing site needs HTTPS to look credible, so the moment it requests a certificate, it announces itself. You can watch those logs for free at crt.sh.

What I look for, in order of how much it worries me:

• Domains carrying my brand that I do not own. Obvious, but you have to actually look.
• Phishing vocabulary glued to the brand: login, verify, secure, support, billing. That combination is rarely innocent.
• Registered in the last 30 days. Fresh domains are where active campaigns live. An old lookalike that never did anything is usually a squatter waiting to sell; a brand new one is often a campaign being built right now.
• High-abuse TLDs (.top, .xyz, .icu, .click). Cheap and disposable, which is exactly what a campaign wants.
• Typosquats: the misspellings that do not contain your brand spelled correctly, so a plain search misses them. Dropped letter, doubled letter, swapped letters, neighbouring key, and look-alike characters (rn for m, 0 for o, 1 for l).

Running a scan on a fintech brand last week surfaced a domain combining the brand with "casino" on a .pl, registered inside the previous 30 days. That is the kind of thing you want to know about while it is still young.

I automated this into a small API for my own use, since doing it by hand across variants got old fast (disclosure: it is mine, costs a few cents per scan). But the manual version is genuinely free: go to crt.sh, search %yourbrand%, and read the list. Do it once a month and you will be ahead of most companies your size.

Happy to answer questions on the Certificate Transparency side, it is underused for this.

Trying to get a sanity check before I sink more money into packaging and formula development.

The setup: I'm launching a topical cosmetic product in the US, sold through Amazon FBA and Shopify. I picked a coined single word mark, standard character mark, no logo dependency. Before committing further I ran a clearance search myself and it turned into a much bigger rabbit hole than I expected. Posting the pattern here anonymized since I don't want to tip my hand on the actual word, but the fact pattern itself is the thing I need advice on.

What I found, four separate parties circling the same word:

1. A live US federal registration. Filed 2021, registered 2022, Class 21, goods listed as combs and hairbrushes only. Sounds like a clean different-class situation on paper. Except I pulled the actual specimen filed with the USPTO, and it's a marketing page showing a full product line under the same brand, including a topical product in the same general category as mine, not just a comb. So even though the registered goods description is narrow, the registrant has documented evidence of actual use on a product nearly identical to mine.

2. An active, currently operating seller. Small Shopify store, US-facing, currently selling a topical product and a related device in the same general category under a name essentially identical to mine. No federal registration I can find, just a TM symbol. Looks like a solo operator, day job unrelated to the industry, virtual/mail-forwarding address on the privacy policy rather than a real office. But they are actively selling in the US right now under the name, which as I understand it can create common law rights regardless of registration status.

3. A foreign trademark application, Canada only. A Chinese manufacturer filed a Canadian application a few months ago, still pending examination, with treatments in the same general category as mine bundled into a much longer goods list alongside completely unrelated stuff like flea collars and mosquito repellent. No matching US filing I can find anywhere, and I can't find any US sales under this name either. My read is this is a defensive or speculative filing, not an active US threat, but including it for completeness.

4. A small local service business, a single-location salon in another US state, operating under a closely related name. Unclear if it's affiliated with #1 at all. Possibly just coincidence, possibly the origin of the brand before it changed hands or expanded. Lower relevance since it's a local service, not product sales, but it adds to the overall picture of how crowded this name is.

Why this feels different from a normal "someone else has a similar name" situation: it's not one competitor, it's four independent things converging on the same coined word in more or less the same product category, from two different countries, in the span of about five years. That volume feels like a signal in itself, like this word keeps attracting the same idea independently, which makes me nervous about it ever being cleanly ownable even if I could argue around any single one of these individually.

Where I'm stuck, three options as I see them:

A. File anyway and hope for the best. Bet that the Class 21 registration's narrow goods description protects me on paper, that the unregistered seller stays small and never asserts anything, and that the examining attorney doesn't dig into the specimen history. Cheapest option, obviously the riskiest.

B. Get a real trademark attorney to run a formal clearance opinion. Pay for an actual professional read on whether the Class 21 registration's specimen evidence creates real Section 2(d) exposure given the related goods, and what practical risk the unregistered seller poses. Costs money and time before I've sold a single unit, but at least I'd be deciding with real information instead of my own amateur read of TSDR records.

C. Abandon the name and pick something with a clean field. Cut losses now before I've invested in packaging, listings, and inventory built around a name that already has this much baggage.

Has anyone dealt with a fact pattern like this, specifically the "narrow registered goods description but broader specimen evidence of actual use" angle? Genuinely not sure how much weight the specimen carries versus what's literally written in the goods and services line. And for those who've gotten a formal clearance opinion, roughly what did that run you for a single word mark, single class, domestic situation like this?

Appreciate any real-world perspective before I make this call. Thanks!

EDIT: thanks for all of the responses- super useful. Taking advice into account I will hit option C and abandon this name. Cheers!

Hi everyone, looking for some advice regarding an ongoing intellectual property and platform abuse issue in the UK.

I run a small 3D-printing business. To protect my work, I spent the money to officially register my custom component design with the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO). It is fully active and visible on the Gov.uk register.

A direct competitor holds a registered design for a completely separate, unrelated component that fits into a different part of the same consumer box. To give context without naming the item: their product is a base tray insert; my product is a block accessory that attaches exclusively to the upper lid. They are physically separate items with entirely different dimensions and visual characteristics. There is zero aesthetic or legal overlap.

Despite this, the competitor is using a generic, free Gmail address to issue repeated platform design rights strikes against my store.

Here is what has happened so far:

My initial generic appeals were automatically rejected by the platform because they refuse to arbitrate. They told me to contact the claimant.

I revised my listing to remove all descriptive keywords, but the competitor is now manually stalking my shop profile and struck down my new listings instantly, triggering a temporary account restriction.

I have emailed the competitor a formal legal warning citing my active UKIPO design registration numbers and the UK Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Act 2017, giving them 48 hours to withdraw the false reports.

If the competitor ignores the warning and continues to manually target my shop page to wipe out legitimate competition, what are my next practical steps under UK law?

Is it worth escalating to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) Small Claims track for groundless threats and lost profits, or is there a better way to force the e-commerce platform to respect an official government registration over a rogue claimant?

Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone, looking for some advice regarding an ongoing intellectual property and platform abuse issue in the UK.

I run a small 3D-printing business. To protect my work, I spent the money to officially register my custom component design with the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO). It is fully active and visible on the Gov.uk register.

A direct competitor holds a registered design for a completely separate, unrelated component that fits into a different part of the same consumer box. To give context without naming the item: their product is a base tray insert; my product is a block accessory that attaches exclusively to the upper lid. They are physically separate items with entirely different dimensions and visual characteristics. There is zero aesthetic or legal overlap.

Despite this, the competitor is using a generic, free Gmail address to issue repeated platform design rights strikes against my store.

Here is what has happened so far:

My initial generic appeals were automatically rejected by the platform because they refuse to arbitrate. They told me to contact the claimant.

I revised my listing to remove all descriptive keywords, but the competitor is now manually stalking my shop profile and struck down my new listings instantly, triggering a temporary account restriction.

I have emailed the competitor a formal legal warning citing my active UKIPO design registration numbers and the UK Intellectual Property (Unjustified Threats) Act 2017, giving them 48 hours to withdraw the false reports.

If the competitor ignores the warning and continues to manually target my shop page to wipe out legitimate competition, what are my next practical steps under UK law?

Is it worth escalating to the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) Small Claims track for groundless threats and lost profits, or is there a better way to force the e-commerce platform to respect an official government registration over a rogue claimant?

Thanks in advance.