Karaoke Forums

I'm wondering how many defunct karaoke manufacturers are out there that never tradmarked their logo. Like Pop Hits, Top Hits and Music Maestro for examples. I don't know whether they did or not. Anyone else know? Hmm.... if no trademarks exist for them, could someone somehow trademark them?

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DJ Don

Here's the link to the search page of the US Trademark office.

http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe? ... 7xtilv.1.1

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You can be strange but not a stranger

You don't have to apply for a trademark. It's implied, and automatic. You can pay to register it to be on the safe side, but it is not required. You just have to be able to prove first and continuous business use. So the defunct companies ALL had claim to trademark on their brands, and if they are defunct, they no longer have them because they can not claim the continuous business use requirement (unless they sold the brand to a new owner).

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C Mc
KJ, FL

ok, so then in theory, can anyone 'claim' an abondoned trademark?

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DJ Don

Not really. Usually even bankrupt companies still have someone owning the remains of the company. You're going to need a good lawyer and some research before you can make that assumption on any trademark. Why would you want to steal someone else's idea anyway?

Dang guys you have a totally unrealistic idea of what a trademark does and how it works. In the first place, it takes 12-18 months to work through the process, even using an attorney who knows what to do (it comes from the federal government)

Also you have to have actively used the mark in commerce and have that well-documented.

Also, you can't just assume someone's work and claim it for your own without some kind of agreement from that party. Assuming that most of those tracks were recorded without permission, why in the world would you want to be involved in something like that, even if all the other stuff could be arranged? Prison or lawsuits cannot be that attractive....

I agree, not worth taking over someone elses mistake in hopes to make it better.

so if it doesn't work like that, what about PEP buying Chartbusters trademark?

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

That's completely different. PEP didn't just assume the rights. They purchased it in a deal. You can buy the rights to a trademark from the owner, but you can't just use it just because it's not being used.

Attempting to "Claim" a trademark or patent a simple unpatented item will not work out. You have to buy the trademark from the current or former owner or business. Look up the history of the phillips head screw and you will be astonished...good story.
Even if you did manage to "Claim" the trademark, the music companies would be able to sue...YOU, as you might assume any former liabilities as well as your own redistribution of the trademarked product without proper licensing. It's a very big hole you'd be throwing money into. If nothing else you would be setting yourself up as feed corn for the lawyers.

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Purple Frog Karaoke Cuz we all feel odd and love to "croak"