Large customer (Distributor) changes a single letter in the Supplier&#39;s name and trademarks it. Is this legal?
<p>That’s what happened to our jewelry-maker cooperative!</p>

<p>If you had a contract with a seller that required them to sell your goods under your organization's name, without modification, then changing the name would be a breach of contract and you could sue them for damages. Otherwise, you have no basic for taking them to court. On the other and, you could be trying to say something entirely different, namely that someone has taken the name of your goods but not the goods themselves, and sold something else under your name (or a very close approximation therein). That could be trademark infringement, and you could go to court over that.</p>
<p>The nature of your product name would matter significant. If the product were named &quot;Artisanal Jewelry&quot;, there is little hope for success for success in a lawsuit (given that this is not a registered name). Such a name is a descriptive mark, and you would have to prove that the public associates &quot;Artisanal Jewelry&quot; specifically with your product. If the product is named Xoachhcaox Jewelry, that is an arbitrary and unique name, and it would not be too difficult to establish that they have infringed your trademark right. Let's say that the competitor names their product Xoachcaox Jewelry – the likelihood that a person would be confused as to which is which is very high. Defendant's intent would be a factor in deciding if there is infringement.
Another possibility is, in state court, you might sue for &quot;passing off&quot; their goods as your goods.</p>
<p>It is unclear from your question whether you are talking about re-selling your goods under a different name (legal, barring a contractual statement to the contrary), or selling other goods using your name or a close approximation, which could be trademark infringement.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>You can establish rights in a trademark based on &quot;legitimate use&quot; of the mark. This protection arises automatically, from actual legitimate use of a mark for business or commercial purposes. Trademark rights that arise from use (rather than from registration) are sometimes referred to as &quot;common law&quot; trademark rights. <a href="https://www.findlaw.com/smallbusiness/intellectual-property/trademark-protection-by-use-or-by-registration.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">(https://www.findlaw.com/smallbusiness/intellectual-property/trademark-protection-by-use-or-by-registration.html</a>)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Accordingly, the “trademark”, based on specific facts (for e.g., prior time duration of use etc.) may or may be invalid or void, and the attempting to obtain a trademark or using the trademark may be a violation of the actual common law trademark that had been established and obtained by the use of the mark.</p>

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