Can I Trademark my Name?
Yes you my be able to trademark your Name under certain circumstances.
If you are using a particular word, graphic, phrase or slogan on a Name, you can trademark it to prevent any other manufacturers from using it without your permission. For example, the mark “Tim Tebow” is a registered trademark for a variety of goods. A Name trademark entitles the owner of the trademark to stop others from using their mark or a similar mark on a specific goods & services without their permission.
To trademark a Name the name must achieve secondary meaning – acquired distinctiveness to merit trademark protection. The United States Patent and Trademark Office will reject your trademark application if they determine that your word, graphic, phrase or slogan is absent a showing of acquired distinctiveness and likely push you to the Secondary Register.
According to the Patent & Trademark Office:
Similarly, personal names (actual names and pseudonyms) of individuals or groups function as marks only if they identify and distinguish the services recited and not merely the individual or group. In re Mancino, 219 USPQ 1047 (TTAB 1983) (holding that BOOM BOOM would be viewed by the public solely as applicant’s professional boxing nickname and not as an identifier of the service of conducting professional boxing exhibitions); In re Lee Trevino Enters., 182 USPQ 253 (TTAB 1974) (LEE TREVINO used merely to identify a famous professional golfer rather than as a mark to identify and distinguish any services rendered by him); In re Generation Gap Prods., Inc., 170 USPQ 423 (TTAB 1971) (GORDON ROSE used only to identify a particular individual and not as a service mark to identify the services of a singing group).
If you want to trademark please contact please contact a US trademark attorney at Grell & Watson 678-373-4747
We would be happy to discuss your potential trademark application and answer any trademark questions.