private label/trademark in stealth account question

[baxx]

Hi

I'm in an interesting position here... I currently run a couple of stealth amazon accounts (my original amazon account used in my name has been banned).

I'm becoming interested in perhaps starting my own private label (not sure what market yet) but I know that a trademark needs to be filed for my new brand name so that other sellers can't hijack my future private label listings.

So if I file my trademark, I assume it would be under my name, which amazon would then see (and link my name to my original banned amazon account) and then ban this potential new stealth amazon account, and then my trademarked name would go to waste.

Any suggestions on how I can get around this? Should I just create a new LLC and then have the trademark go under that name, and use the LLC in a new stealth account?

I hope this makes sense.

Thanks in advance.

[ovidiu]

Why would Amazon look up the details of your trademark? A trademark can be under a variety of options, including several people's names, or a company too, if I'm not mistaken.

[baxx]

I'm not sure if they would or wouldn't, but I would assume they would - right?

I asked amazon specifically about this situation and they said if I sent in my trademark information about my private label, no other sellers would be able to sell my listings.

You don't think they would verify the information against me? I genuinely don't know and came here for guidance.

[mhhbizz]

you can register a trademark under a stealth company names right?

[ovidiu]

A trademark is registered with the US government. I would NOT supply false information to them.

[yankee]

File a trademark under your company.

I suggest keeping everything separate from you always. It just keeps everything simple, especially if you want to grow in the future, raise funds, sell etc..

[baxx]

Originally Posted by yankee

File a trademark under your company.

I suggest keeping everything separate from you always. It just keeps everything simple, especially if you want to grow in the future, raise funds, sell etc..

Yeah this what I was thinking too. Thanks for everyone's input.

[mhhbizz]

Originally Posted by ovidiu

A trademark is registered with the US government. I would NOT supply false information to them.

yes. i meant is using a company.

[Atom]

Good point! This problem never came across my mind actually and I am considering purchasing a verified Amazon account from here.

I already have a trademark registered under a LLC but it got me thinking that I am director of the company....wonder if this would cause me problem if I list inventory of this trademark using the new account.... =/

[Real World]

I have applied for a trademark an received it under my wife's name, though I am personally banned on Amazon. The product is being, and has been sold on Amazon on a stealth account for some time.

1st. there is no hurry to file for a trademark. No one will attempt to knock off one of our products unless we were exceptionally successful with it. 2nd, the trademark office wanted proof that the product had been selling under that mark for several months in order to qualify for a trademark.

You can file for the trademark under a business and not a personal name. Next time I'm sure we will opt to put it in the business name. But I am certain Amazon has never looked up our trademark and has no urge to do so.

We are selling more that 20 private label products and we've only trademarked that one item. We have considered trademarking others but haven't followed through for various reasons pertaining to the difficulty of certain names.

My experience on this issue leads me to first get the product out there. Proof that I have done that gives me a leg up on any legal battle pertaining to ownership. (Trademarks are not necessarily they just give your lawyer huge leverage.) Then if the product is successful I can decide whether or not to file for a trademark.

Keep in mind, people knock off trademarks every day. The expensive part is attempting to stop them...just my 2 cents...Keep it Real. RW

[GhostOfAmazon]

Real World, I think the OPs question pertained more to stopping others from listing under the ASIN rather than the legal complications of trademark infringement....much easier and more profitable to stop people from listing under your ASIN than you try suing someone over phakes...

[baxx]

Originally Posted by Real World

We are selling more that 20 private label products and we've only trademarked that one item. We have considered trademarking others but haven't followed through for various reasons pertaining to the difficulty of certain names.

Now when you say you've trademarked that one item... I assumed that what you would trademark would be the brand name. For example, your seller name and brand name is "ABC Co." and you have the following listings:

ABC Co. Cool Blue Bicycle
ABC Co. Sleek & Skinny Lightstand
ABC Co. Awesome Ant Farm

I thought what would block other sellers from hijacking your listing would be that "ABC Co." is trademarked and thus all 3 listings are protected.

Do you actually trademark each and every listing's name? Please correct me if my thinking is wrong.

Thanks.

[Real World]

Originally Posted by baxx

I thought what would block other sellers from hijacking your listing would be that "ABC Co." is trademarked and thus all 3 listings are protected.

Yea, GhostOfAmazon revealed that I miss under stood the original post. Thanks GOA.

But back to baxx's question the trademark office would not let us trademark company name only the name of the product. This is confusing because some company names are brands and some are not.

For example, Coke is part of a company name and a brand name but this trademark is licensed by "The Coca-Cola Company". They have over 70 maybe 80 trademarks. Diet Coke, Sprite, Sprite Zero, etc.

Likewise in makeup, "bareMinerals" is the trademark brand but the company name is Bare Escentuals Beauty, Inc. Everyone who sees the store at the mall just sees the name/logo "bareMinerals" but the real company name is different. They too have many trademarks for on separate products.

So, no the US Trandmark officials will not typically let you brand ABC Co. They want you to trademark ABC Super Bike, ABC Sleek & Skinny, etc. separately.

We were originally hoping to brand our company name, but we could not.

Hope this is a better answer. RW

[GhostOfAmazon]

Originally Posted by Real World

Likewise in makeup, "bareMinerals" is the trademark brand but the company name is Bare Escentuals Beauty, Inc. Everyone who sees the store at the mall just sees the name/logo "bareMinerals" but the real company name is different. They too have many trademarks for on separate products.

So, no the US Trandmark officials will not typically let you brand ABC Co. They want you to trademark ABC Super Bike, ABC Sleek & Skinny, etc. separately.

We were originally hoping to brand our company name, but we could not.

Hope this is a better answer. RW

You can't brand the company name....I get that. But can't you trademark the BRAND name? i.e. "Uncle Steves Greatest" or whatever as a brand? Then just insert your product name afterwards?

[Real World]

Originally Posted by GhostOfAmazon

You can't brand the company name....I get that. But can't you trademark the BRAND name? i.e. "Uncle Steves Greatest" or whatever as a brand? Then just insert your product name afterwards?

Yea, I really don't know GOA. The trademark office is not the easiest group of people to get along with. They sound like lawyers speaking with a lot of legal terms and they expect the applicants to know and understand their complex system. In fact, most companies hire lawyers to apply for their trademarks. (We did not use a lawyer.)

In the bareMinerals example that I gave previously, they do plaster that name on a bunch of different items. So it would seem that they are successful doing exactly what you describe. However, they also have dozens and dozens of separate trademarks and that indicates that they were not able to protect/identify everything that they sell with that one mark.

I honestly do not have the knowledge or expertise to answer the question regarding this particular situation. I do have experience applying for and receiving a trademark and can only share about that particular experience. RW

[rsot]

Originally Posted by ovidiu

A trademark is registered with the US government. I would NOT supply false information to them.

ovidiu is 100% correct - you are getting into legal zones here