I have a question concerning trademark mark codes. Particularly, type 3 and type 4 marks.
I have a website that hosts complaints about a company, and I would like to keep the site up. Needless to say, the company isn’t happy so they sent me a letter stating I violate their two trademarks. The first is type 3, which is the identifying name of the company. I use it on my website to identify who I am complaining about throughout the site (nominative use). It’s a type 3 mark, " (3) DESIGN PLUS WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS" and description of mark as “The mark consists of stylized lettering.”. The trademark has their logo associated with it.
Question 1: Does a type 3 trademark consisting of design/letters mean I cannot use the design, or I cannot even use the text (standard font typed on a webpage)? Of course, I am only using it to identify the company which I read some courts consider ok (nominative use, for identifying purposes). However, if the trademark only covers the design, then I in no way violate it as I do not have a single image on my site.
Second is on text, or a (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK. I do not use the full phrase as identified in the trademark - I use about 75% of it (the trademarked phrase consists of the identifying name followed by some descriptive text. I merely use the descriptive text).
Question 2: Does a type 4 standard character mark only cover when the entire phrase is used in it’s entirety, or does it cover partial use of the phrase (leaving off a couple words at the beginning, as in this case)?
Of course, I could easily remove the second one so there isn’t a single type of issue that could come up. I did not use the full phrase and only the descriptive text in a quoted fashion, but it could easily be removed.
However, the first type 3 mark is what I wonder the most about. If a type 3 mark would cover the text itself completely outside of the stylized design, then that would say I would not be able to use the name of the company at all on my site, thus making it impossible to keep the site up (it is a complaint site after all, so I need to identify the company). It would solely be up to the “nominative use” of the term for identifying purposes only, as decided in court.
Thanks in advance!