Are Famous Trademarks Treated Differently From Regular Trademarks

Famous Trademarks is really a category, a special category of trademarks that are recognized in some countries, not in all countries, in some countries. and this category enjoys stronger protection compared to normal trademarks.

First of all, the list of these trademarks is very, very short. You have to be really big and really well-known to be recognized as a famous trademark. Think Apple, or Microsoft, all those huge names that we’re thinking about—that’s them. Just because you think you’re known doesn’t make you famous. You would need to have actual surveys that would prove that a huge number of people across the country, from different industries, from different walks of life, know you, understand who you are, and they know your brand.

So what does it give you to be recognized as a famous trademark? Usually, a normal trademark only covers you for the products and services that are listed in your trademark application. Being recognized as a famous trademark in some countries allows you to use your brand to stop others from using it—even for unrelated industries. That makes it a lot stronger in the sense that it’s recognized that if the brand is so famous, there is no way, there is no way, somebody could have a product or a service that—if you named it the same way as that famous mark—people wouldn’t associate it with that brand.

Microsoft is a great example. Try to think of any products that if you named them “Microsoft,” you wouldn’t think of Microsoft, the software giant! If you are selling chairs and you’d call them Microsoft—that'd still be an issue for them because you would somehow associate or assume that the software giant granted permission to this furniture company to make chairs and call them Microsoft.

But again, it does not work in all countries. In fact, it works in very few countries. Some countries have specific rigid lists of what they recognize as a famous trademark, some would require you to prove that you’re famous in court every single time, and some would simply ignore that and say, you know what, if you’re so famous, you still need to prove confusion—because that’s the case with all regular trademarks. In order for you to prove that there is an infringement, you need to prove that there is likelihood of confusion. And the question is, is there likelihood of confusion when we are talking about two completely different products and services? It’s difficult, so that process was made easier for owners of famous trademarks in the sense that they say, Look, we are so famous, we don’t need to prove that there is an actual confusion or likelihood of confusion, we’re so famous that it’s presumed that the marks are confusing.

So if you have a trademark infringement dispute, you need to prove that there is likelihood of confusion between your brand and how somebody else is using that brand. Basically, that customers would be able to confuse somebody else’s product for yours or yours for theirs. And a big chunk of that analysis is whether your products and services are closely related to somebody else's products and services. And if the answer is, yes, the brands are similar but the products and services are completely different, usually there is no confusion, there is usually no likelihood of confusion. So famous brands, they don’t need to do this, it’s automatically assumed that there is confusion if the brands themselves are too similar. So if you’re selling chairs and you call them Microsoft in a country where famous brands are recognized, usually that’d be enough for the software giant to go after you and say, You can’t use the brand, we are a famous trademark, even if we never trademarked the word Microsoft for furniture.

• Does My Trademark Need to Match My Company Name? ()
• What Is a Trademark? ()
• Can I Add More Products and Services to My Trademark Application After It Has Been Filed? ()
• Where Should I Register My Trademarks? (Deciding on Jurisdictions in Which to File Trademarks) ()
• What Is Conventional Priority? ()
• Can I Change the Trademark Itself After My Trademark Application has been Filed? ()
• How Long Does It Take to Register a Trademark? ()
• Can I Trademark Dictionary Words? ()
• Can I Trademark the Same Brand for Different Products or Services? ()
• Do All Countries Protect Unregistered Trademarks? (Common-Law Trademarks) ()
• Can I Trademark a Brand Before It Is Launched? (Intent-to-Use Trademarks) ()
• Is My Trademark Available? ()
• Should I Trademark My Startup's Brand? ()
• In Whose Name Should I Apply For My Trademark? ()
• Will the Trademarks Office Help Me Enforce My Trademarks? ()
• Should I Trademark a Logo Done On Fiverr? ()
• How Much Does It Cost to Register a Trademark? ()
• Should I Trademark My #Hashtags? ()
• Are There Annual Trademark Maintenance Fees? ()
• If I Register My Trademark, Does It Mean No One Can Use It? ()
• Four Things Most Commonly Trademarked (The Trademark Dance) ()
• How Does Trademark Factory's Guarantee Work? ()
• What Are Nice Classes of Goods and Services ()
• Do I Have to Be an American Resident to File in the U.S.? ()
• How Are Service Marks Different From Trademarks? ()
• What Are Oppositions? ()
• 3 Most Important Benefits of Registering Trademarks ()
• Why Register a Trademark in Canada to Get a .CA Domain Name? ()
• What is Post-Allowance Statement / Declaration of Use? ()
• Am I Protected Between the Filing and the Registration of My Trademark? ()
• What Is Post-Registration Statement of Use? ()
• How to Use Trademarks to Create a Sense of Uniqueness for Your Business? ()
• What Goes Into a Trademark Application? ()
• What Happens If You Don't Respond to Correspondence from Trademarks Office in Time? ()
• What Makes a Brand Valuable? ()
• Is Registering a .COM Domain Name Enough to Secure Trademark Rights? ()
• Why Is It Important to Preserve Evidence of Use of My Trademarks? ()
• Do I Need an Agreement with My Logo Designer? ()
• Andrei Mincov's story ()
• What is Madrid Protocol? ()
• Trademark Factory Ultimate package ()
• What Are Official Marks in Canada? ()
• Trademark Factory I Feel Lucky package ()
• How Will a Trademark Examiner Examine My Trademark Application? ()
• Can You Trademark Book Titles? ()
• Trademark Factory All-Inclusive package ()
• Trademarks vs. Trade Names ()
• Look-Alike and Sound-Alike Trademarks ()
• Will the Trademark Examiner Check Other Applied For Trademarks? ()
• Trademarking Words in a Fancy Font? ()
• Will the Trademark Examiner Check Unregistered Trademarks? ()
• You Received an Office Action. Now What? ()
• How Long Is a Trademark Registration Good For? ()
• When Should I Trademark My Brand? ()
• Why is Google the Textbook Example of What Not to Do with Your Trademark? ()
• Should I Claim Color as a Feature of My Trademark ? ()
• What Is the Difference Between Trademarks and Patents? ()
• How Should I List Products and Services in My Trademark Application? ()
• What Is the Difference Between Trademarks and Copyright? ()
• When Should I Trademark My Logo? ()
• What Are the Two Main Reasons My Trademark Application Can Be Rejected? ()
• What Is the Trademarking Process? ()
• Can I Mention Someone Else's Trademark on My Website? ()
• What Is An Acceptable Specimen of Use? ()
• What Are Generic, Descriptive, Suggestive, Arbitrary, and Fanciful Trademarks? ()
• What Is UDRP Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy? ()
• How Do I Trademark Product Names? ()
• When Am I Allowed to Put TM Next To My Brand? ()
• How Do I Trademark Service Names? ()
• What Are Word Marks, Design Marks, and Combined Marks? ()
• What Should I Know About Trademarking Slogans and Taglines? ()
• Should I Trademark My Name Or My Logo ()
• Adding Elements to My Trademark to Overcome Confusion or Descriptiveness ()
• Received an Invoice For International Publication of Trademark ()
• What Should I Do If Somebody Infringes on My Trademark ()
• Do Trademarks Protect Their Foreign Equivalents ()
• What Should I Do If Somebody Accuses Me of Infringing Their Trademark? ()
• Asian Domain Name Scam ()
• What Are Two Biggest Branding Mistakes? ()
• Are Dead Trademarks a Problem? ()
• What Is The Difference Between a TM and an R in a Circle Symbols ()
• What Does Using a Trademark Mean? ()
• How Do I Choose a Great Brand for my Business, Product, or Service ? ()
• What Is Weekly Confusion Watch Service? ()
• Supplemental Register ()
• What Are Ornamental Trademarks? ()
• What Happens If I Don't Renew My Trademark In Time? ()
• What Does Confusingly Similar Mean? ()
• What Is a Trademark Assignment Agreement? ()
• What Does Date of First Use Mean? ()
• What Is a License Agreement? ()
• Why Is Search So Important? ()
• What Are Incontestable Trademarks? ()
• How Do I Check the Current Status of my Trademark Application? ()
• Important Amendments to Canada's Trademark Law ()
• How To Trademark a Name and Logo ()
• Trademarking Strategies For Life And Business Coaches ()
• How Do I Cancel Someone Else's Trademarks? ()
• Why Do Celebrities Trademark Their Catchphrases? ()
• How George Clooney Made $1 Billion Using Trademarks? ()
• Misspellings and Other Changes to Get Around Someone Else's Trademark ()
• How To Protect Your Brand On Amazon? ()
• Dividing a USPTO Trademark Application ()
• 5 Movies with Unbelievable Scenes about Trademarks and Intellectual Property ()
• Trademark Factory's New & Improved I Feel Lucky Package ()
• The Dumbest Advice About Trademarks You Could Ever Give ()
• 5 Things You Should Never Say About Your Brand ()
• Trademarks vs Domain Names ()
• What's Your Brand Worth? ()
• 3 Y's Of Protecting Your Brand ()
• Matrix of Success 2 Things a Business Needs for Success ()
• How Coca Cola Trademarked Their Brand ()
• Trademarks: Certainty vs. Commitment ()
• Trademarking Process In a Nutshell - TMs Into Rs Brand Protection Formula ()
• Can I Trademark An App ()
• 3 Types Of Businesses And What This Has To Do With Trademarks ()
• Incorporation vs Trademarking ()
• 3 Nasty Trademark Rip Offs And How To Avoid Them ()