2

According to trademark guidance:

[...] Including one of the terms, "Stack" or "Exchange" or "Overflow" in your product name is generally okay.

I'd like to use "StackEx" as a prefix for my app name (e.g., "StackExcavate", "StackExSave") - Is this allowed?
Also, what about replacing the "Ex" with just "X" (e.g., "StackXplore")?

  • I saw this question to which Joel suggested to contact the team, which I did (with more questions) some time ago, but didn't get an answer (well, yet).

1 Answer 1

1

[mandatory I Am Not A Lawyer prefix]

Do not overthink this - using a part of the Stack Exchange trademark, especially if it occurs naturally in the name of your app, is perfectly fine (unless you are trying to make a competitor service and then register it as a trademark yourself - this might get a bit more complicated).

The important part of the quote you provided is not the example, it is this part:

Do name your application with something unique.

There are numerous prominent user organizations, applications, and scripts that are using the trademark even in full (the Stack Overflow one) - however, they are called sufficiently uniquely to be absolutely in the clear:

  • SOBotics
  • SOCVR (Stack Overflow Close Vote Reviewers)
  • SOX (Stack Overflow Extras)
  • SOUP (The Stack Overflow Unofficial Patch)

The list goes on. Some of the above explicitly add a note that they are not affiliated with Stack Exchange (e.g. SOBotic's "We are not affiliated with Stack Overflow or the Stack Exchange Network."), though.

3
  • 1
    Thanks. BTW, your first two links (to tmsearch.uspto.gov) lead to some weird page - not sure if that's intentional or not. Commented Oct 31, 2021 at 21:59
  • 1
    Oh, yeah, they have a weird system of allocating resources for each visitor and then clearing them - I probably included my allocation by accident - will look in the morning, thanks! Commented Oct 31, 2021 at 22:02
  • @HeyJude - done, sorry for the confusion, seems like there is no easy way to get back to the queries when the session expires, so I relinked to TSDRs of both trademarks Commented Oct 31, 2021 at 22:13

You must log in to answer this question.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.