Pooh Fighters
Picking a name for the brand is an important decision, especially when the company must be delicate in describing the services to be performed by its franchisees. Once selected, the franchisor should take steps to protect its rights to the name. The 80-unit Pet Butler franchise system which provides poop-scooping services may have waited too long to attempt to register its mark, according to
this article.
Pet Butler's application to register the trademark was rejected because of a pre-existing registration by a two-unit company called
Dog Butler.
Pet Butler is now trying to cancel
Dog Butler's registration in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The growth of businesses offering poop-scooping services confirms Jerry Seinfeld's theory that aliens watching our planet would believe that dogs are the masters here on earth. The USPTO will determine whether either company has stepped into something it shouldn't have.
Posted by franchiselawblog at December 10, 2007 04:17 PM