Go to the following website, the USPTO home page,

http://www.uspto.gov/index.html

and at the left, under "Trademarks", click on "Search". On the next page, click on "New User Form Search (Basic)". Type "Noodler" into the "Search Term" window, and on the next page click on "Noodler's Ink". The next page will be the almost-completed trademark registration for "Noodler's Ink". You can also click on "Check Status". Please note the correct spelling of Nathan's surname with one "f". The Registration Number and Registration Date are not available yet, but the information will be published in the Official Gazette on 2005-01-18.

Congratulations, Nathan!

George.

although it does not hurt to register one's trademark with USPTO, the chief manner in which "noodler's ink" becomes identified with nathan's product is through its widespread use by the public. kleenex for instance is synonymous with tissue; the real question is, will public use of fountain pen ink be so widespread as to connote the image of ink when the term "noodler's" is mentioned? i think it is rather unlikely. after all, in the court, if you are attempting to pursue trademark infringement, one of the things you need to do to make a case is to take a preliminary telephone survey of people at random, asking them what comes first to their mind if they hear the word "noodler's". the odds of getting a survey favorable to protecting nathan's trademark against potential infringement will then depend upon whether there are more fountain pen users than fishermen in the group surveyed.

I wouldn't exactly call noodlers fishermen, except in the broadest metaphoric sense of the word. They're more like men playing a game of one-on-one tackle football or rugby against a fish, with the fish being both the opponent and the ball.

Most trademarks apply to one type of product, and do not place any restrictions on other products across the board. I think the only reason to register a trademark is to stop other "shady" ink makers, otherwise known as ink shysters, from using the name or the logo on counterfiet labels. You may have noticed that there were two registrered uses of the name "Noodlers". The first one, from 1982, was for a children's play marker from Mattel, not really a very good idea, and it didn't catch on, because by 1989 it was already dead and cancelled. But if it were still live, it still wouldn't have prevented Nathan's successful application.

George.

agreed. trademark protection is automatic when there is public consensus and no confusion as to the product behind the tradename. nothing prevents a computer manufacturer (for example) from starting a "noodlers" line of computers: if this kicks off big time, then they "own" that trademark without ever having registered it at USPTO. thus, as you said, registration prevents at best imitators from making noodlers ink products. by the way, it is still possible for 'noodlers computers' to insist that noodlers ink was diluting their trademark, despite noodlers ink being registered earlier at USPTO. thus, having paid the registration fee is no guarantee that your trademark will be rendered invalid if your product does not have a major public identity compared to other, later products.

Howdy

[t is still possible for 'noodlers computers' to insist that noodlers ink was diluting their trademark, despite noodlers ink being registered earlier QUOTE]

Which is one reason why Micro$oft and $tarbuck$ manage to run over little folk the world over in a myriad of lawsuits.

Dava

Actually, that law works both ways. Trademark is a common law right. Whoever is first to use can claim that they're business is hurt by whoever is 2nd. Size doesn't matter. I work for a big company, but we still steer clear of even a small company's trademarks for that very reason.