Intellectual Property Law

On January 17th, Mr. Percy Miller filed an intent to use application for ROMEO for clothing. You can view that record here.

On January 4th, Koehler Companies Inc. filed an intent to use application for ROMEO for clothing. You can view that record here.

Going by just the filing date, it certainly appears that Koehler's mark will have precedence and the USPTO may just rule that way.

However, looking further at Miller's record shows that the applicant has two other registered marks: Registration Number 2971373 for P. Miller Romeo AND Registration Number 3068538 for Lil Romeo. Both of these marks are registered for the clothing class.

Also, Percy Miller is known by his stage name, Romeo (formerly Lil Romeo) and is fairly well known.

Only time will tell how the USPTO handles the two Romeos but my bets are on Percy for 2 main reasons:

1) He has 2 prior registrations for close variations of Romeo for clothing.
AND
2) He's well known by his artist name and may be able to show that as a result his marks are 'famous.'

Now, when Koehler filed on the 4th, there was no possible way they'd be aware of the January 17th filing for ROMEO. However, had comprehensive research been conducted, P. Miller Romeo and Lil Romeo, surely would have popped right up. Which is not to say that Koehler didn't have comprehensive research conducted.

Had any client come to us looking to trademark ROMEO for clothing we'd have easily found those other 2 filings & noted them as a possible problem.

Full post as published by TradeMark Express: A Daily Blog on January 25, 2008 (boomark / email).