What constitues an original idea?

[Mojo]

And what if the name is "Mojoworms", all one word. I can't find that in the trademark search so it appears to be available.

And, what makes you think it isn't mojoworms already?

[rockhopper]

And what if the name is "Mojoworms"' date=' all one word. I can't find that in the trademark search so it appears to be available.

And, what makes you think it isn't mojoworms already? [/quote']

Sorry but that will make no difference what so ever, you don't understand trande mark law, and you really don't want to learn this lession as it will get very costly, very soon.

I suggest you call your lawyer ASAP give him the Trade Mark I sent you and ask him, if you can get away wiht "ANYTHING" with Mojo in it, you will find the answer is no.

Hay man I'm not trying to make you mad or upset, it's just the law, and I know for a fact Mojo Lures sues infringers of anything they have the legal exclusive rights to, and it is their right to do so. It's the reason they paid to have their trade mark regestered

They just were not aware of you using it, I have not told them who was using it, or how, just that someone was, I'm giving you a chance here, as they don't ask, they just turn everything over to their lawyers

Defending aginast such a suit (just the legal fees runs into the ten's of thousands) is not worth the effort exspecialy since this is what's called blatant infringment .

[Coley]

Tell me this, I found people with the last name Mojo and

what if this person has Mojo Cleaners??

Coley

[Mojo]

Word Mark MOJO

Goods and Services IC 028. US 022 023 038 050. G & S: sporting goods, namely fishing lures and sinkers.

[rockhopper]

Tell me this' date=' I found people with the last name Mojo and

what if this person has Mojo Cleaners??

Coley[/quote']

Trade marks, for the most part, are only protected in each "market"

Now some international trade marks are not,, and also corperations that own many seperate businesses in many markets , and names known thoughout the world, or nation like Coke , or G.E., G.M. or Ford, then their mark is protected in every market

No one can use Mojo in the "fishing tackle" market except Mojo Lures,, even if My name was Mojo, I could not use Mojo anything in the fishing industry, or market, unless I was the "first" to use it in interstate trade.

If a company does not inforce their trade marks then the marks could end up being public domain. This happens a lot in lures, where people knock off a design, and every one calls the lure the same thing the original inventor called his, and he does not go after the mark infringers, as soon as he is made aware of them, he could loose the rights to his trade mark, so companies are "forced" to sue, or loose their trade marks.

Sinko is a good example of this now, unless Gary files for that mark soon, and then goes after all those that sound close to it, or jsut use it,, he could loose that trade mark, and never be able to go after anyone who uses it, which it looks like he is doing,, but I personaly don't know if that is true, I will ask him next time I see him, or his brother.

By the way, a Trade Mark does not have to be regestered, it's the first one who can prove they used it in interstate commerce, and "still" using it, Just searching the trade mark data base is not a trade mark search, there are many other places one must search to make sure a mark is not currently being used.

[AlamOso]

Thanks Rodney for taking your time to help us out. I can see that you have put a lot of effort into this already. I would appreciate if you could help me out with a few questions also.

Would making lures from a new material be patentable, especially if the new material served a function other than structure? I have been making composite lures with graphite fiber reinforced foam. Now not only does the composite have lightweight, high strength qualities, but I also assert the claim that it is more ?strike sensitive? (relying upon the characteristics of the material ? I have no formal testing to back this up yet). If you consider it ? other things in the fishing industry have been made from graphite fiber ? rods, line, etc. which carry the same claim. Why not the bait itself? You can see a sketch of the way I make these lures below, or go to http://www.fiberlures.com

One other thing, I also make a device called Trailures. They are similar to Hitch Hikers except are fashioned so that they are a modification specific to ?MirrOLure? type baits. The installation instructions are linked below, and can also be viewed on my website.

http://www.rivercitylures.50megs.com/tral/ins2.jpg

Now the final question. I have these under provisional patents. I already have a follow-up on the Fiberlures, and am now looking at a follow-up on Trailures (as well as a second follow-up for Fiberlures). Is the concept involved with these items patentable? I?m just wondering if it is worth pursuing further protection.

Thanks,

Garrett "AlamOso"

[Coley]

Jann's Netcraft sells unpainted Norman crankbaits. If a person

buys this product and paints it a color Norman doesn't have,

is it still called a Norman or something else?

Coley

[rockhopper]

Thanks Rodney for taking your time to help us out. I can see that you have put a lot of effort into this already. I would appreciate if you could help me out with a few questions also.

I've been fishing all day and just came in beat (it's a tough job, but someone has to do it :-) I'll try to answer what I can tomorrow morning

[Mojo]

I've shutdown my website until I can change the name and all associated logos and text. I'm also in the process of changing my business license, bank account, and will purchase a new domain name. But first, a question:

Sorry but that will make no difference what so ever' date=' you don't understand trande mark law, and you really don't want to learn this lession as it will get very costly, very soon.

I suggest you call your lawyer ASAP give him the Trade Mark I sent you and ask him, if you can get away wiht "ANYTHING" with Mojo in it, you will find the answer is no.

Hay man I'm not trying to make you mad or upset, it's just the law, and I know for a fact Mojo Lures sues infringers of anything they have the legal exclusive rights to, and it is their right to do so. It's the reason they paid to have their trade mark regestered

They just were not aware of you using it, I have not told them who was using it, or how, just that someone was, I'm giving you a chance here, as they don't ask, they just turn everything over to their lawyers

Defending aginast such a suit (just the legal fees runs into the ten's of thousands) is not worth the effort exspecialy since this is what's called blatant infringment .[/quote']

I've found 2 instances of the word Mojo in registered trademarks in the Fishing Tackle / Lures goods and services category.

Word Mark MOJO MULLET

Goods and Services IC 028. US 022 023 038 050. G & S: FISHING TACKLE, NAMELY FISHING LURES. FIRST USE: 20030901. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20030901

Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING

Serial Number 78183209

Filing Date November 8, 2002

Current Filing Basis 1A

Original Filing Basis 1B

Published for Opposition December 23, 2003

Registration Number 2890221

Registration Date September 28, 2004

Owner (REGISTRANT) Claverie, Maumus F III INDIVIDUAL UNITED STATES 4212 San Felipe, #514 Houston TEXAS 77027

Attorney of Record JOHN R. CASPERSON

Disclaimer NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE "MULLET" APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN

Type of Mark TRADEMARK

Register PRINCIPAL

Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

Word Mark MOJO OUTDOORS

Goods and Services IC 028. US 022 023 038 050. G & S: Outdoor sporting products, namely hunting decoys and related products and accessories; motorized and non-motorized decoys; decoy support frames; decoy floating systems, including bladder mounted decoys, floating decoy frames, and water agitation assemblies; hunting product assembly kits comprised of molded decoy bodies, decoy motors, remote control accessories, attachable wings, wing shafts, decals; deer feed distributors for attracting wild deer for hunting purposes; animal attraction and distraction devices; bow and arrow quivers, carrying units, and storage units; hunting blinds, netting material, and associated camouflaging products; scented lures; products used in connection with bird watching or in the promotion of bird watching; products used as bird deterrents or in connection therewith; outdoor sporting videos; and related promotional products

Standard Characters Claimed

Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK

Serial Number 78508500

Filing Date October 29, 2004

Current Filing Basis 1B

Original Filing Basis 1B

Owner (APPLICANT) Huntwise, Inc. CORPORATION LOUISIANA P. O. Box 8460 Monroe LOUISIANA 71211

Attorney of Record William R. Coenen III, PTO No. 48,239

Type of Mark TRADEMARK

Register PRINCIPAL

Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

Here's the original:

Word Mark MOJO

Goods and Services IC 028. US 022 023 038 050. G & S: sporting goods, namely fishing lures and sinkers. FIRST USE: 19830000. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19910000

Standard Characters Claimed

Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK

Serial Number 76568285

Filing Date December 19, 2003

Current Filing Basis 1A

Original Filing Basis 1A

Owner (APPLICANT) Mojo Lure Co., Inc. CORPORATION CALIFORNIA 2985 West Lincoln Street, Suite 404 Banning CALIFORNIA 92220

Attorney of Record James E. Brunton

Type of Mark TRADEMARK

Register PRINCIPAL

Live/Dead Indicator LIVE

Aren't these both in violation of the registered trademark? They were registered in December 2003 and October 2004 respectively. Mojo was registered in December 2003.

Regarding Mojo Mullet specifically, the G & S code for them and Mojo Lures is almost identical, one is sporting goods, fishing lures and the other is fishing tackle, fishing lures. They all have Mojo in the Word Mark. How was Mullet able to even register their trademark if it's a violation to use any form of Mojo in the first place? And why hasn't it been removed?

Also, the Mojo Mullet has a Published for Opposition date line that isn't on the Mojo registration. It appears that the Mullet was applied for before and Published for Oppostion after the Mojo registration?

I'm trying my best to understand trademark law, and this is an example I came across in my research that doesn't make sense.

Can you help me understand this?

[rockhopper]

I've shutdown my website until I can change the name and all associated logos and text. I'm also in the process of changing my business license, bank account, and will purchase a new domain name. But first, a question:

I really hate you had to go to the trouble, but you can understand all the problems if two lure companies had the same name, customers would really be confussed, so could buyers, and wholesalers, untill they knew .

I've found 2 instances of the word Mojo in registered trademarks in the Fishing Tackle / Lures goods and services category.

Both have been turned over to the lawyers and a law suit is being drawn up, these are going to be costly battles even for Mojo as they were issued these trade marks

Even Projo is being sued, but their case also covers trade dress. They copied the Mojo propduct, then came up with a similar name, and even used the same colores and font to trick the consumer, and we have proof of one wholesale buyer that was confussed and ordered from the wrong company. The damages here will be huge, Judges really hate people or companies who do this delibertly

Yours was an honist mistake, theirs was a deliberate act to confuse the market and take buisness from Mojo, after a huge Bassmaster's story was released on Mojo's weights, and everyone started ordering them

[rockhopper]

Now the final question. I have these under provisional patents.

I want everyone to understand,, so I'm doing this in Caps,, not yelling just trying to get everyone's attention

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A """PROVISIONAL PATENT"""

A provisinal "aplication" buys you time to file for a utility patent, that is "ALL IT DOES", it gives you a filing date, it does not give you any protection from someone knocking off your product (except if they do, you know to file for the utility patent, so you can nail their butt :-)

I already have a follow-up on the Fiberlures, and am now looking at a follow-up on Trailures (as well as a second follow-up for Fiberlures).

I'm not sure what you mean by "follow up" in this statement

Is the concept involved with these items patentable?

Possibly, is the only answer I can give to this,, it will depend on a patent search

I?m just wondering if it is worth pursuing further protection.

Thanks,

The Millon dollar question, that has no, one size, fits all answer !

Filing for a patent is a business decission, we know that 98% of the people who file for patents made the wrong decission, as these people's inventions were not "worth" a patent.

The first thing a person must do is

Find out if he indeed has a new invention, most people do not, they either are infringing on someone elses active patent, or someone elses expirered paten. If the patent is expired, make all you want,, but you can not sell the rights to your invention,, as technicaly it's not your invention,, someone invented it before you. Wheater your going to file for your own patent or not, is not relevent to having to do a patent search. You need to know if you can legaly make the invention

(A reminder I do professional patent searches, I only now do about 1 a week, that is all I have time to do for others now, as this takes me about 20 hours in most cases, I charge 200 dollars total for this time, it is not to make money on, as I don't need 10 bucks an hour, it's to seperate the kooks from those that are serious, it also keeps people from wanting me to do many searches for them, taking all my time. I used to do them for free, and people abused me, big time,, since then (charging) I have done what I call hardship cases for free (people that jsut could not come up with 200 dollars) these people abused me more that the others, so there is no exceptions to the 200 dollar charge for anyone, if you can afford a computer, and internet, and can't invest 200 dollars in your invention, or jsut won't, because you don't think it's worth 200 dollars, then I can't invest 200 dollars in " your " invention)

The next thing you need to do

Is figure out if your invention, is worth a patent, this is a whole lot harder than figuering out if what you have invented is patentable.

If your going to make and sell these yourself, it is easier to figure out, than if your going to try to license to a manufacturer. The best way to procceed here is playing the clock to the fullest. You have 12 months to file an aplication, after you have disclosed your invention, or offered it for sell, use that 12 months to see what kind of sells you can generate, by the 11 th month , you still don't know if it's worth a patent,, then that aplication should be a provisinal aplication filed,, it cost under 100 dollars to file for this, this gives you another 12 months to file for your "utility patent" (note* you can't file a provisional aplication if you plan on filing for a design patent, the design patent must be filled before the first 12 months expires).

Now you have went 19 months,, have you sold enough of these to pay for a utility pantent ? I say 19 months, because the patent attorney or agent will need at least 90 days to write up your aplication, so you need to know by month 19 (actualy most attorneys can write your aplication in a few days, but they have many aplications ahead of yours, and many of them are running out of time as well)

Do you still think that someday you will need to protect your invention, because some day it will take off ? that is a decission only you can make, and most that decide to patent, make the wrong one

A patent just keeps others from making your invention,, so do others really want to do so,, is your market that big ?

Licesning is another story completly

Garrett "AlamOso"

[Mojo]

Both have been turned over to the lawyers and a law suit is being drawn up' date=' these are going to be costly battles even for Mojo as they were issued these trade marks

Even Projo is being sued, but their case also covers trade dress. They copied the Mojo propduct, then came up with a similar name, and even used the same colores and font to trick the consumer, and we have proof of one wholesale buyer that was confussed and ordered from the wrong company. The damages here will be huge, Judges really hate people or companies who do this delibertly

Yours was an honist mistake, theirs was a deliberate act to confuse the market and take buisness from Mojo, after a huge Bassmaster's story was released on Mojo's weights, and everyone started ordering them[/quote']

So the trademark office will issue a trademark without checking it's own database to find out if the applied-for trademark is infringing on a current trademark? And the cost of the application runs from $350 to $$$$$? Our government in action....

Do you think mojolures would be interested in buying my domain name for what I have in it?

You may laugh, but I'm serious.

[rockhopper]

Both have been turned over to the lawyers and a law suit is being drawn up' date=' these are going to be costly battles even for Mojo as they were issued these trade marks

Even Projo is being sued, but their case also covers trade dress. They copied the Mojo propduct, then came up with a similar name, and even used the same colores and font to trick the consumer, and we have proof of one wholesale buyer that was confussed and ordered from the wrong company. The damages here will be huge, Judges really hate people or companies who do this delibertly

Yours was an honist mistake, theirs was a deliberate act to confuse the market and take buisness from Mojo, after a huge Bassmaster's story was released on Mojo's weights, and everyone started ordering them[/quote']

So the trademark office will issue a trademark without checking it's own database to find out if the applied-for trademark is infringing on a current trademark? And the cost of the application runs from $350 to $$$$$? Our government in action....

Makes ya sick , does it not

Do you think mojolures would be interested in buying my domain name for what I have in it?

Maybe,, just because you were so nice, I know they would not want or need to use it, how much did you invest in the regestration

You may laugh, but I'm serious.

I'm not laughing, I think your a heads up guy

[Mojo]

I bought it on 9-2-2004 for 3 years at $53.85. Pro rate it to, say, $45.00?

I can't use it and won't advertise under it. But if I end up keeping it I MAY link it to the new domain name. I don't think that's illegal, but I haven't researched it yet.

[rockhopper]

I bought it on 9-2-2004 for 3 years at $53.85. Pro rate it to' date=' say, $45.00?

I can't use it and won't advertise under it. But if I end up keeping it I MAY link it to the new domain name. I don't think that's illegal, but I haven't researched it yet. [/quote']

I just called Mojo, and convinced them to let you use your domain to transfer others over to your new domain and company name, if you just explain your company name change on the link,, this will allow you to not harm your search engine submissions so far,, I realieze these are hard to get started on a new domain,, and those who have book marked your page would not think you just went belly up, they would be able to get to your new web site without much trouble.

So you officialy have the right to do so, until the regestration runs out.

If you have any problems with this you can email Mojo direcly or call them

[rockhopper]

So the trademark office will issue a trademark without checking it's own database to find out if the applied-for trademark is infringing on a current trademark? And the cost of the application runs from $350 to $$$$$? Our government in action....

I found out what happened in this case, When Larry bought Mojo, the Trade Mark renewal was up and he was not informed,, so the mark was ruled dead at the Trade Mark office, but since Mojo, never stopped doing buisness as Mojo (this is what really counts,, not the regestration fees, with trade marks, like what happens with patents, it's all in keeping the fees paid) Anyway Mojo reapplied for thier Trade mark, and since they proved they had never stopped doing buisness under that name it was given back to them,, even though two other companies had been issued marks,, now of course they must show a judge that they never stopped doing buisness under that name (something both companies should have checked out prior to filing, but their attorneys never bothered to do so) I guess the attorneys now will get paid again, trying to defend them.

Attorneys are the only winners in law :-P

[Mojo]

OK. So I think I have a new name picked out. I checked it out on the USPTO web site and the 2 entries that appear there are both dead.

***** and ***** Fly. (I want to protect the new name until I decide if I can use it.)

So is it safe to use the new name? The trademark with just the word I want to use abandoned the mark on 2-14-2003. Do they have the right to go back and renew the mark if they are still doing business under that name?

[rockhopper]

OK. So I think I have a new name picked out. I checked it out on the USPTO web site and the 2 entries that appear there are both dead.

***** and ***** Fly. (I want to protect the new name until I decide if I can use it.)

Understandable

So is it safe to use the new name? The trademark with just the word I want to use abandoned the mark on 2-14-2003. Do they have the right to go back and renew the mark if they are still doing business under that name?

They can only go back and renew if they have "continued" to do buisness under that name, if you use it, then they atart back using it "after" you started using it,, then it's their tuff brake, the Mark is now yours.

I would do a complete Google and Yahoo search on them,, look for any sites that have dates after they abandonedd it,, try to find out if they are listed in the phone book in the city they had the Mark regestered under, if they are, call that number and ask if they are doing buisness under that name. If you can't find them or reach them, then start using the name ASAP, document interstate commerce under that name. This date will be the date that counts, not the day you file for the Trade Mark.

Of course if you find anyone using that Mark now (in the fishing market),, then the Mark is theirs.

That's the way the Mark bounces, learn how to dribble :-)

[Mojo]

That is exactly the information that I was looking for. I'll check it out.

One more question. If a trademarked name is listed as *** *** Lure Company and I wanted to use *** *** Worms is this legal? The actual name of *** *** is not registered in the fishing lure market only the complete *** *** Lure Company name.

[rockhopper]

That is exactly the information that I was looking for. I'll check it out.

One more question. If a trademarked name is listed as *** *** Lure Company and I wanted to use *** *** Worms is this legal? The actual name of *** *** is not registered in the fishing lure market only the complete *** *** Lure Company name.

Technicaly speaking the, the answer is no, as your name would be a specific lure type, and they are a "lure" company, people would assume they made your worm, perhaps a devision of their company did, you might be able to get it past the trade mark people but I promiss you,, you would be sued by the orignal company, and their lawyers would point this out.

If I were you I would not use "worm" at the end of any name you come up with,, what if you started making flukes, or jigs, or flys.

Have a name that let's you expand your operation

[AlamOso]

Sorry not to respond sooner ? I?ve been out of the loop for a while.

After re-reading my post I can see that my questions were rather broad. You must get that a lot of that. What was meant by ?follow up? in the previous post was a second PPA, which included improvements, but compromises the priority date, I know.

Thanks for your advice, Rodney. It seems that I have gone about the patenting process backwards. I could have used some advice like yours before I dumped resources into my projects that may prove to be unnecessary.