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If you're referring to this device [1], it's a matter of opinion. Personally I wouldn't really agree: the mortar and pestle is a common enough device and the le

If you're referring to this device [1], it's a matter of opinion. Personally I wouldn't really agree: the mortar and pestle is a common enough device and the leaf is a nice distinctive element. The real risk in a situation like this is not really that you get a C&D from using it on your startup's landing page. The risk is that if you eventually tried to file a trademark for it, you would lose: either because some large firm's lawyers would oppose and have no trouble outspending you; or because, if you tried to file a trademark on an open-source logo you found on HN, you probably got bad legal advice. If I had a natural-supplement startup, for example, I'd be fine using this open-source logo as a placeholder and developing a new logo once I wanted to start a trademark registration process. http://enjoykingsheath.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/lloyds-pharmacy1.gif http://enjoykingsheath.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/lloyds...

weinzierl 11y ago
> The real risk in a situation like this is not really that you get a C&D from using it on your startup's landing page. Doesn't a trademark have to be defended if you won't face the risk to lose it? Is the C&D really so unlikely?
- propter_hoc 11y ago
  IP law firms use automated software to scrape the trademark registration filings at the USPTO and other national trademark offices (ex. [1]). These software services automatically assess filings for possible infrigement. This is the most likely way for a bigco's lawyers to find out about your logo or company name - far more likely than them finding out about your startup from techcrunch or some other source. Unfortunately for me, this happened to me. I was able to negotiate a coexistence agreement for my logo, but I could have done without the pain. If I were to start over from scratch, I would seriously consider doing the Apple/Google offline foreign filing trick [2]. [1] http://towergatesoftware.com/ http://towergatesoftware.com/ [2] http://blog.altlegal.com/tongan-shell-game-how-apple-and-google-file-trademarks-in-secret http://blog.altlegal.com/tongan-shell-game-how-apple-and-goo...
  - weinzierl 11y ago
    Thanks for sharing your experience. The second link was really interesting to read and the Apple/Google offline foreign filing trick was new to me. I still don't understand how it solves the problem. After six months you will have to file at the USPTO and then the scrapers could find you anyway.

weinzierl 11y ago

> The real risk in a situation like this is not really that you get a C&D from using it on your startup's landing page. Doesn't a trademark have to be defended if you won't face the risk to lose it? Is the C&D really so unlikely?

propter_hoc 11y ago
IP law firms use automated software to scrape the trademark registration filings at the USPTO and other national trademark offices (ex. [1]). These software services automatically assess filings for possible infrigement. This is the most likely way for a bigco's lawyers to find out about your logo or company name - far more likely than them finding out about your startup from techcrunch or some other source. Unfortunately for me, this happened to me. I was able to negotiate a coexistence agreement for my logo, but I could have done without the pain. If I were to start over from scratch, I would seriously consider doing the Apple/Google offline foreign filing trick [2]. [1] http://towergatesoftware.com/ http://towergatesoftware.com/ [2] http://blog.altlegal.com/tongan-shell-game-how-apple-and-google-file-trademarks-in-secret http://blog.altlegal.com/tongan-shell-game-how-apple-and-goo...
- weinzierl 11y ago
  Thanks for sharing your experience. The second link was really interesting to read and the Apple/Google offline foreign filing trick was new to me. I still don't understand how it solves the problem. After six months you will have to file at the USPTO and then the scrapers could find you anyway.