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by thrush 4524 days ago
Where does one draw the line for a word that is too common for your business? Here are the rankings of just a few company names that utilized popular words.

  521 - paper
  1991 - match
  2723 - apple
  2777 - square
  2921 - target
Imagine if Facebook came out with a new camera app that was called Facebook Target. There would be no doubt that there was clear negligence on Facebook's part. I feel like here I need to disclose that I am no lawyer, and that this is where Trademark law comes into effect. It's just disappointing that an innovative tech company would act this way when it's completely unnecessary. I think that if the app was called Facebook News it would be just as effective as if it was Facebook Paper.

Source (could probably use something more legitimate): http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/common-words-5000.htm
2 comments
Touche 4524 days ago
Paper isn't a company name. IANAL either but I believe there is a distinction in Trademarks between company and product names.
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Turing_Machine 4524 days ago
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=4802:iw...

There are over 2,000 records that include various forms of the word "target". Over 3,000 for "apple". Over 3,000 for "windows".

If you use a common word in a trademark you may be able to prevent others from using it for the exact same (or very similar) product, but you don't own the word outright.

Facebook might well be okay with a camera app called Target (though they might not be -- someone else may be using it for that purpose already). They would definitely be in trouble if they started a department store called "Facebook Target", though.

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