> "Lego" is a trademark for plastic bricks, but the London Electric Guitar Orchestra should be able to use "L.E.G.O" or even "LEGO" as an acronym - they make mu

> "Lego" is a trademark for plastic bricks, but the London Electric Guitar Orchestra should be able to use "L.E.G.O" or even "LEGO" as an acronym - they make music, not construction toys. Whoah there. I think perhaps it might be time to take a step back and revise your basic knowledge of how trademarks work. Trademarks get registered in classes (goods and services are divided into 45 classes - 1 to 34 for goods and 35 to 45 for services). Not only that, but you can register for parts of a class, not necessarily an entire class. Trademark registration rules state that you should only seek registration in classes (or part-classes) for which you have actual business activities. This is because of the fundamental "use it, or lose it" rule that applies to trademarks (failure to use your trademark for a period of five years since it has been registered could lead to it being vulnerable to cancellation by a third party on the grounds of non-use). Coming back to your LEGO vs LEGO, if you take a moment to look at the LEGO (toy) trademark registrations, you will note that they hold trademark registration for the word "LEGO" in the following classes: - 6 with the following selection: Key rings and key fobs included in Class 6, all made wholly or principally of common metal. - 17 with the following selection: All goods included in Class 17 (Unprocessed and semi-processed rubber, gutta-percha, gum, asbestos, mica and substitutes for all these materials; plastics and resins in extruded form for use in manufacture; packing, stopping and insulating materials; flexible pipes, tubes and hoses, not of metal. ) - 26 with the following selection: Buckles and textile smallwares, all included in Class 26; tie-tacks, tie-pins and badges, all for wear, and cuff links, none of precious metals or coated therewith. - 28 with the following selection: Toy models and sets of parts for constructing such toys, all made of rigid plastics, ornaments and decorations for Christmas trees; all included in Class 28 - 35 with the following selection : Publicity, advertising and public relations services; shop window dressing and arranging of displays in shops, stores, exhibition halls and trade fairs; the setting up and operation of promotional shows; compilation and analysis of business statistical information; conducting business appraisals and marketing studies; transcription services; all included in Class 35. - 40 with the following selection:Printing services, Binding services; services for the finishing and/or treating of plastics and of articles made wholly or principally of plastics; all included in Class 40. - 41 with the following selection: Educational advisory services; arranging and conducting workshops; amusement park services; theme park services; all included in Class 41. - 42 with the following selection: Computer programming; rental of computers; computer services. - 43 with the following selection: Hotel, boarding house, tourist house, holiday camp, motel, restaurant, cafe and canteen services; food preparation services; travel agency services for booking accommodation; arranging and conducting of exhibitions. - 44 with the following selection: Sanatoria, rest home, convalescent home services. Now, IANAL, but to be fair to LEGO (toys) I would say they have nice tight definitions on their trademark classes which are clearly only for their own business purposes. I also don't see any mention of "music" in the above classes or anything that might stop an orchestra calling themselves LEGO (or indeed attempting to register a music-related trademark).