Q: Can I trademark a made up word (industry+preneur) if others are using it currently but have no trademark?
We want to name a business using a made-up word, but people use it as hashtags and a few other people had used it in the title of their workshops, but no trademarks exist and I don't see any business entities that have put a lot of money into the use of the word. If I trademark it and set up a company or product within the company that uses that word, do the others users have to cease their use or are they grandfathered in?
A: Sorry, but based on what you wrote, I don't think that you'd be able to trademark it. It does not work that way. You can't just see a word in use, think that it is a great idea, register it as your own, and keep others from using it. It is not your intellectual property, but someone else's.
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