Trademark for Business Name
Having your company name, logo, or slogan registered as a trademark is a crucial step in safeguarding your hard work. Learn the ins and outs of the sign-up procedure, including how much it will cost and how long it will take, in this straightforward guide.
A file with Intent to Use is made when a mark is not currently in use in the United States, and the depositor agrees to start exploiting the mark effectively within the next six months after the filing, as ultimate registration is only accomplished upon submission of proof of effective use.
If the applicant has not used the mark within 6 months after receiving the Notice of Allowance from the USPTO but has a good reason for not doing so, thereafter he can ask for a 6-month extension, renewable up to a maximum of 3 years. This protection lasts for 10 years and is renewable once.
Trademark Registry
To avoid unnecessary red tape, you can skip trademark registration in the United States. Trademark registration with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). Utilization of the mark in trade will grant common law trademark protection.
Protecting your brand in the face of possible legal action from “trademark trolls” is an essential part of doing business in the controversial American market?.
This practice, known as “trademark trolling, is popular in the United States and involves individuals or businesses registering trademarks without any intention of really utilizing them. With the threat of legal action for infringement, they hope to generate a profit by selling the concession of the license at exorbitant rates or by claiming an enormous interest in return for an assignment of the license.
If you want to register a trademark in the United States, you need to show that you intend to put the mark to use in interstate commerce.
The U.S. Trademark Office is the place to go if you want to register your trademark in the States.
A foreign applicant may find it more convenient to file his trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in the United States, but doing so necessitates the involvement of an attorney licensed to practice law in the United States who is familiar with American law and federal procedures and will be responsible for representing the applicant before the Office.
When a trademark is registered with the USPTO, the owner receives protection across the whole country since intellectual property is a federal matter in the United States. Since the USPTO will have the protection act on the mark, you shouldn’t wait to be present to carry out the procedures (which will take anywhere from three months to six months, depending on the complexity of the application). Backdated to the day the request was made.
Advantages Trademark Registry
- In order to claim your trademark in court, you need to register it with the government. Maybe this will discourage other people from using it as well.
- When a trademark is registered, the owner acquires the legal right to use the mark nationwide in connection with the products and services specified in the trademark application, as well as protection from trademark infringement. Information like this will be useful if you ever have to file a lawsuit to protect your trademark.
- Legal action can be taken in federal court by trademark owners who have their marks registered with the government.
- When a trademark is registered in the United States, it can then be used as a springboard to get protection in other countries.
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service trademark registrations can be used to prevent the entry of counterfeit or infringing goods into the country.
- The USPTO has an online database where trademarks may be searched for. In theory, this should discourage others from copying your trademark.
TM, SM, and ® Symbols:
Using the TM sign alerts the public that you are claiming trademark protection for the item or service indicated. Use of the TM sign does not need trademark registration with the USPTO and may be exercised by anyone who claims ownership of the brand. Similar to the ® symbol, the SM symbol can be used to claim ownership of a service mark. In the event that the USPTO does not approve your application to register your mark, you may still use these symbols.
When you see the letters ® inside of a circle, you know that the trademark in question is legally protected.
A registration certificate from the USPTO is required before you may use the ® sign. The right to use TM as a trademark symbol is not automatically granted upon submitting a trademark registration application.
The TM sign may only be used in connection with the specific products and services for which you have applied for trademark protection.
In order to continue using the registered trademark sign, you must maintain your registration current. If you let your registration lapse or forget to renew it, you will lose the right to use the symbol.
While there are no hard and fast regulations concerning where the TM, SM, or ® symbol must go, most businesses put it in the top right corner.
How long does it take to get a trademark?
The United States Patent and Trademark Office accepts trademark applications for a period of 10 years, and each subsequent renewal extends the registration period by ten years (USPTO). If the proper paperwork isn’t submitted on time, your trademark registration will be ruled null and void.
After the sixth year, you’ll need to renew your registration by sending in a specimen, the renewal fee, and a Declaration of Continued Use/Excusable Nonuse of Mark in Commerce under Section 8.
The owner of a registered trademark is required to submit a Declaration of Use and/or Excusable Nonuse/Application for Renewal under Sections 8 and 9 between the ninth and tenth years following registration, and every ten years thereafter.
State Trademark Registration:
Both the federal government and the state in which the business is located recognize trademark registrations. Trademark registration with a single state can help protect your mark in that state if your products and services are solely sold there. But the territory covered by federal registration is larger. Each state has its own requirements for registration.