What are some of the first steps to start a business ?

To do this right, you need to conduct a trademark search, specifically with respect to "common law" marks. "Common law" mean trademark rights that...

No, this won't work. By adding a hyphen, that does nothing at all to alter the commercial impression of the mark. If the marks are the same, then...

We would need to take a look at both marks in question. Your statements at the end that the "industry and category type is in the brand name itself...

Am I allowed to trademark a part of a phrase that has an unofficial trademark?

The test for trademark infringement is whether there is a "likelihood of confusion." In determining whether there is a likelihood of confusion,...

To stop this you are probably going to need to work with an attorney in private. If you are in Washington, you may want to first reach out to a WA...

You have to still find out if there are any existing common law rights in the mark, or if there are any marks that are registered/used that are...

If you have trademark rights in the term (not clear that you do based on you mentioning that you only have a domain name), then you are going to...

It's not clear from your question who actually started first using the mark in commerce (either intrastate or interstate). That matters and the...

There's a chance there are no longer any "common law" rights due to the time that has passed. However, you would need to make sure by conducting a...

If you put it on the internet and/or sell it you are automatically increasing your risk of an enforcement for copyright infringement, which this is.