Trademark and fictitious name question

[TODDGSR]

im in need of some legal advise. im trying to get my business name trademarked as a brand name for a clothing company i started up. i do have a fictitious business name registered in my county and have invested money already. the thing is, there is another company that has the same business name as me in another county near by. that company is a retail store for furniture. i know there are different classes in trademarking and mine would be under clothing and apperal. the other company does not have a trademark but i dont know much about common law and dont want the get in troulbe for using the same name. the actual name im trying to get trademarked has no trademarks registered, i looked it up in the federal trademark and patent search on their website i also did the thomas guide search and some other searches on my own. what would you suggest that i do? should i continoue to trademark my brand name?
thanks

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Originally posted by TODDGSR
im in need of some legal advise. im trying to get my business name trademarked as a brand name for a clothing company i started up. i do have a fictitious business name registered in my county and have invested money already. the thing is, there is another company that has the same business name as me in another county near by. that company is a retail store for furniture. i know there are different classes in trademarking and mine would be under clothing and apperal. the other company does not have a trademark but i dont know much about common law and dont want the get in troulbe for using the same name. the actual name im trying to get trademarked has no trademarks registered, i looked it up in the federal trademark and patent search on their website i also did the thomas guide search and some other searches on my own. what would you suggest that i do? should i continoue to trademark my brand name?
thanks

Apparently you are aware of the issues, including the one concerning common law. I would suggest that you seek the assistance of a trademark attorney (Intellectual Property Law) since there may be other issues or facts we don't know that could factor into your decisionmaking process. It may sound like I am deflecting the issue but I'm not -- it seems you have a lot of information and know about all the fundamental issues that you'd have to juggle.