Trademarking

I am working on trademarking a few products but a bit confused as what class to file under when it comes to virtual products, does anyone know?
Have any other advice as to trademarking a SL brand?

Take a look how Xcite! described their products, it was something generic like "virtual software for use in a virtual world".

We just had a thread about that: /327/05/227849/1.html

It started out as a vote, but mostly discussed applying for trademarks (US vs everyone under the Madrid protocol) and the specific classes of registration as well.

Any trademark you wish to protect must be registered with the U.S. trademark office (or the equivalent in your own country). There is no in-world registration or protection of trademarks. Although LL supports the concept of the creator's rights in intellectual property, they have not provided any SL-specific ways of protecting those rights except the ability to set object permissions. Creators must rely on existing protective mechanisms, such as the DMCA, the Patent Office, Trademark Office, and Copyright Office.

I would suggest establishing a website for your SL business, so that the trademark can be displayed in the real world as well as in the virtual one.

All it takes to get a (trademark) infringing item removed is an AR, which doesn't even need to be filed by the owner of the mark. LL is protected against copyright infringement by residents, but not against trademark infringement by residents.

If you own the mark, sending a cease & decist letter to LL would probably be better than an AR though.

---

I'd also really ask a lawyer, or the trademark office, whether a simple US registration is actually going to offer you any protection when you're doing business on an international platform. Most of what I find suggests to me trademarks apply to the location of the customer base, not your location, or the location of LL.

If you register FakeBrand only in the US, and someone else registers FakeBrand in the EU, you'd be infringing on the other's trademark if you sold anything to EU citizens (or that's what I take away from anything I read anyway, hence the cautionary note to specifically ask ).

An AR is a way to report the infringement. Registration is the only way I know to provide supporting proof. Otherwise, it's a case of "I used it first!" "No, I did!" "No, you're a thief and a liar." "Liar!" "Thief!"

Thanks guys I appreciate it I was mainly just confused on which class to pick since none seem to really apply

I read your post as implying that LL wouldn't enforce registered trademarks, sowwies .

I can't stress it enough..

speak with a legal proffesional in your area.

It is well worth your expense.

Sensual,

If I am not mistaken it is in the Service Class:
Class 42

~Maddy

eep! or Class 9 depending on what you are protecting in-world lol.

You can`t trademark a product, only a name.

I was looking at some SLers TM and the description seems to be "custom" rather than the class types it gives you as a choice...