This is where the mark Figaro would run into trouble. As you may recall, Figaro is the name of the cat in the Disney film Pinocchio. Although the Walt Disney Company does not have a monopoly on the use of the name, it might nevertheless be able to prevent it from being used on a mousetrap. A copyright provides an owner with the exclusive rights to reproduce a certain work for a specified period, subject to some basic limits. The term of a copyright is the lifetime of the author plus 50 years in the case of identifiable, living authors.
Copyrights arise automatically and are inexpensive to register.
Searching for a prior copyright is probably unnecessary. Copyright infringement can be avoided by establishing that a work was independently created. Therefore, records showing independent creation are helpful to avoid liability. Even with such records, establishing independent creation may be difficult if the original work was widely disseminated or otherwise available to the alleged infringer. In one such case, the court held that,although copying may have been unconscious, the original was nevertheless infringed.