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1 Gussy up
2 Craftsman tool for removing screws
The latter usage is evidently new, but is it a made-up or trademark term, and how did you find out
And if you're into that kind of thing, why is it so called, and how is it different from, say, the Easy-Out or similar tool
dalehileman
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I would imagine that someone in their advertising or promotion department thought it would be a catchy name, and fitting because so many decks are put together using screws. But for confirmation, I suspect you're going to have to contact the company. I don't know how to check for trademarks--there wasn't one in the product listing--but it should be easy enough, if you want to.
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Jackie: Thanks and you're probably right, that's what I shall do if all else fails
However, in my experience it's been very difficult to determine whether a name is trademarked or registered
dalehileman
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It just takes a little patience Dale.
Once you've found the governmental sites (in Canada we have one similar to the one to which Myridon linked) it just takes some searching through the lists and categories.
One thing you have to remember though...you can be sued by pretty much anybody, even if they don't have a case.
So, if you decide that you want to use Deck Out for a brand of make-up, and Sears has not added make-up to the list of products to which they apply the name, you are legally allowed to use it.
However, that doesn't prohibit Sears from sueing you to make you stop. They have the financial strenght to drag you to court and make you lose a lot of money defending your right to the name.
What usually happens is that the person with less money gives up because they can't afford the fight.
We had something like this happen last year. I sold a line of foam baths to one of my clients. They decided to call it Oasis.
Lassonde, the makers of Oasis fruit juices, sent them a letter of intent, threatening to sue if they didn't stop using the name.
Lassonde did not register Oasis for health or beauty products, so my client was legally entitled to the name, however, it was cheaper for the client to scrap the labels and change names, than to fight in court.
It annoys me that they had to give up the name. If I would have been that retail chain, I would have told Lassonde, "Fine, we'll change our name since that's cheaper than going to court, but from this day forward, there will never be another Lassonde product sold in any of our stores again!"
That approach worked marvellously well with Zellers (a Canadian chain) one year when they were told to stop selling a product that competed with a Proctor & Gamble item.
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myr: Thank you for that link. I had often wondered where one might find all the trademarks at one site
bel: Thank you for the run-down. I hadn't planned to infringe, but I am doing a project that requires I know whether a neologism is a trademark. Oftentimes it's hard to tell because in the ads, etc, and on Google, the trademarked terms are not always in caps or sometimes they are when they shouldn't be
dalehileman
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Do you need to know just for the U.S. Dale?
There are ways to register a name world-wide. It costs a bunch, and it's hard to enforce, but it's do-able. The makers of Red Bull for example are masters at keeping their name to themselves on a global scale.
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Myr, bel: Thank you for that input. Yes, just the U.S. Myr, thank you for that link, but it's a temporary one that Bill doesn't give you permanent access to. This one is open all the time: http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm
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