Discussion:
What is the name of your state? CA
If a TM is already registered, is it considered infringement if you use this TM, but expand on it?
For instance, take the TM 'Earth Angels'. If I expand on this to say 'Earth Angels, Skincare from the Sea', would this be acceptable even if the original Earth Angels was registered to cover skin care products (but not specifically registered as 'from the sea)?
My thought is that perhaps it would be acceptable as first of all, my name is different and second of all, I have narrowed myself down to a very small segment of skin care, which was not mentioned in the Earth Angels registration.
Answer:
Determining whether or not a mark is infringing someone else's registered mark is not a simple "bright-line" test, but is instead a balancing of a number of factors to determine if there is "confusion" or "dilution" of the registered mark. This is not something that can easily be done without knowing ALL of the relevant facts; if you are going to use a name that is similar to a registered mark, you can either take your chances and hope you don't get sued or, better yet, talk to a lawyer experienced in trademarks and get his or her opinion on the matter.
Answer:
One more thing -- as a very general rule of thumb, if the products that the registered mark and the new mark are for are similar, the marks have to be "further apart" to avoid infringement; in the opposite case, the opposite is true.