Trademark Registration of a Blog Name

Dear Rich: Can you acquire trademark rights for a blog? If so, what category would it be in? We're doing a service mark amendment for Category 41. Originally we asked for seminars, but there was a "likelihood of confusion" there. I'm so glad you asked. You can acquire trademark rights for a blog title. In your application, you would describe your services as, "An online journal, namely a blog featuring commentary and information in the field of [state your blog's field]." Unfortunately, the class of services in which you would seek to register your blog is still most likely going to be Class 41 --  the class for which you were previously denied registration. If the examiner found a substantially similar mark in that class, you face an uphill battle even if switching from "seminars" to "blog." In order to acquire the registration you'll need to show, using several factors, that your mark is not likely to confuse consumers of the other service. If you cannot do that, you must forfeit your application fee and start over. The Dear Rich staff feels your pain... and your letter did prompt us to file an application for our moniker (see above).