Trademarking Search Terms

[musicales]

One of my competitors has just registered 'Green Widget Downloads' as a trademark. The 'widget' term is actually two words, but still, it made me wonder, is this really allowed? Is everyone going to start registered search terms as trademarks so no one else can use them?

Anyone else had this experience?

[alika]

I know of this "lifestyle" company that produces home decor in a certain style that is very aggressive in trademarking every possible iteration of their name and search terms that leads to their name. They are also very aggressive in terms of defending these trademarks, esp. on ebay. They are frequently the target of complain of many ebay sellers for their aggressive defense of their marks.

So yes, it happens - especially if the company has the resources to burn to trademark every possible term that they can think of.

[kevinpate]

On the flip side, once a business decision is made to secure a trademark, the holder needs to be aggressive in defending the mark.

To not defend, or to poorly defend, such a mark is a poor business decision.