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View Full Version : Are there really any trademarked names out there for corals?


djneedledamage
06/03/2011, 12:15 PM
I am just wondering if there are actually any trademarked names for corals that would hold up in court. There have been some names that have been around for a long time, but are they really trademarked? Does that tm by the name actually mean something, especially if there is no way they can control all the coral that comes out of a diving spot?

noahm
06/03/2011, 02:40 PM
I am not an attorney, but I believe you can trademark a unique coral name, but in no way can you prevent someone from selling/fragging etc. the exact same morph of coral under whatever name you want that is not trademarked. They are not afforded the kind of protection that plant patents are, so you can buy "Joetopia's Giant Spaceman Zoas", and frag and sell them, but IF the name has actually been trademarked, you cannot sell them as Joetopia's, but likely could sell them as 'giant spacemans' as it would be difficult to get that kind of wording trademarked without it being part of a unique logo or something. I don't believe many are actually trademarked though, just named by somebody and it stuck, in which case you can do whatever you want with the name.

lordofthereef
06/03/2011, 03:20 PM
I don't believe many are actually trademarked though, just named by somebody and it stuck, in which case you can do whatever you want with the name.

I am leaning towards this myself.

snorvich
06/03/2011, 04:16 PM
I am leaning towards this myself.

Right. Names are names and no one really "owns" them.