Can a person trademark their actual name? For instance, if my real
name is Tom Jones and I am a singer, can the more famous Tom Jones
stop me from using my actual name?

You can use your name, of course, but if you try to use it for
business purposes, like opening a Tom Jones Hotel, you could very well
be sued.  I'm sure the researchers can come up with some real-life
examples.

You can trademark a name - for example Nissan Motor corp, but that
will not always prevent others from using it.  (For example, the
Nissan.com domain is NOT owned by Nissan Motors and there has been an
ongoing lawsuit for years...

So the short answer is yes you can trademark a name but that does not
prevent others from using it, AND you can always sue...

I am not a lawyer, and my only legal advice is to see a lawyer if you
have questions, but the issue typically comes down to intent.... There
is a legal term called Dilution which is when a company tries to use
the name recognition of another trademark for personal profit.  IE if
the Nissan.com site tried to sell goods or services that would be
competing with nissan motor corp it might be seen as dilution.

Performers are a special case - they can be forced to pick a different
name when they start performing to avoid confusion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Benny

One of the recent disputes has been over the name Prince.

A trademark covers a kind of trade, not every possible use of the
term.  Red Label tea and Red Label whisky do not collide.

Hi,

Vballguy's advice to consult a lawyer is sound. (BTW, hi, vballguy,
I'm a vballer, too. The sand season is coming soon!)

From a couple businesses I've been in, I've had to learn a lot about
patents and copyrights. My advice to you, monkeygeorge, is to not only
see a lawyer, but to find a good lawyer who specializes in
intellectual property law, which is the law of trademarks, copyrights,
and patents. If you see a general lawyer, you'll probably pay to have
that person to do research to get knowledge that the specialist would
know off the top of the head.

As part of my businesses, I've taken many intellectual property law
seminars, even though I'm not an attorney. There's a cute story that
might shed some light on your question. When Apple Computers was
getting started, the famous Apple recording label sued the owners,
claiming trademark infringement. The court's ruling was that no
reasonable person would confuse a computer company with a recording
label, so Apple Computers was free to use their chosen name. But there
was one exception: The court ruled that Apple Computers could never
enter the recording business, because then it would blur the line
between the two companies. No problem, you might think, right? But
consider the fact that as part of its operating system Apple Computers
had to create some system sounds--many of them, in fact. Because under
the letter of the law that made them a recorder, they might have
gotten in trouble. Being the radicals that they were--Jobs and
Wozniak--they wanted to thumb their noses at the system, especially
after winning an expensive court case. They created an
innocent-looking system sound that they named "Sosumi." If you sound
this name out, it comes to "so sue me," and it was their little dig at
the Apple recording company. The recording company never re-sued for
this, BTW, because it was obvious to reasonable people that Apple
Computers wasn't trying to compete with a record label by making their
own records.

I'm not really up on trademark law--that's what you're interested in.
My understanding is that the first person who asks for a trademark and
does interstate trade under that name, has the best chance of getting
the trademark. I don't know about international usage (ask the
specialty lawyer). My thought, though, using your example, is that you
could certainly sing under the name of Tom Jones--even if there were a
more famous person using it--assuming that it was your real name.
Could you market souvenirs under that name? That'd be questionable,
I'd think, but it'd be a good question for your lawyer.

G'luck,
dtc

OK, maybe the "Tom Jones" name was a bad example. Closer to the mark:
let's say I am named Jason Smythe (not my real name) and I am a
graphic design artist who markets my services on the web. Alongs comes
another guy, also name Jason Smythe, who ALSO does graphic design on
the web. Can either of us force the other to stop calling himself
"Jason Smythe, Graphic Artist?"

Again, you'll get good, reliable advice from an intellectual property
lawyer. Off the top of my head--and remember that I'm not a
lawyer--there'd be nothing to stop either person from introducing
himself as "Hi, I'm Jason Smythe, a graphic design artist." After all,
that's each person's name and occupation. But if one of the two Jasons
trademarked the company name of "Jason Smythe Graphic Design Arts,"
that would bar the other person from using the same company name. I
wouldn't want to guess about any example in between.

But really, spend some money and find a good lawyer who specializes in
this type of law. Then you'll KNOW.  :-)

dtc

I don't think you can trademark a person's name, but possibly you
could register a trademark that is a fictitious name, then change your
name to it.

Owain