Federal Trademark Registration FAQs

Think of the red-orange Reese’s peanut butter cup packaging – that specific orange color is trademarked. Think of the bite-marked fruit associated with Apple computers; that specific symbol is trademarked. Both the distinctive orange color and the familiar Apple logo create immediate brand and product recognition for consumers.

Trademarking is an important step for protecting your brand identity. It will stop competitors from poaching your customers by imitating your brand. It can also offer you some protection if those copycats do something reputation-damaging.

Federal trademarks provide legal protection for your brand in the entire United States, and helps guard against counterfeiting and fraud. It also gives you the ability to sue your competitors for stealing your ideas.

Ward Off Copycats
You will have exclusive rights to the names, slogans, and logos of your brand.

Bulletproof Your Intellectual Property
Protect your brand identity and make it easier to sue your competitors who steal your ideas.

Save Your Time & Money
Save yourself from the hassle of expensive redesigns after finding out you’re violating existing trademarks.

® Trademark Registration Symbol
Once you register your trademark, you can use the ® trademark registration symbol which tells others to back off your brand, and makes your brand look more credible.

Everlasting Investment
Trademarks last forever, as long as you are still using it and file your maintenance documents.

Any person that claims to be a proprietor of a mark or is proposing to own the idea can apply for trademark registration. The application should clearly state the trademark, the services or goods, the address and name of the application and the period of use of the mark with a signature.

If you’re introducing a new brand identity or planning on offering newly branded services or products, you should take the necessary steps to protect your business from copy-cats and competitors.

You can easily stop someone from using your trademark if you can prove that you were the first user of the trademark and that both names are bound to create confusion among consumers.

Of course, the Federal Registration will have a better mechanism to stop infringers. You will also have common legal rights to stop them while you conduct legal business.

No, if you’re a U.S. citizen, you don’t need an attorney to file your trademark application. However, given the high rejection rate, office actions, and limited number of attempts available, it’s highly recommended that you hire professionals to prepare your application.

A trademark expert takes care of your application just like an attorney – only without costing you an arm and a leg.

But, if you are a foreign-domiciled trademark applicant, you must be represented at the USPTO by an attorney who is licensed to practice law in the United States.

No, we are not a legal firm, and we do not offer legal advice. However, our professional team of trademark registration experts have helped over 50,000+ business owners register their trademark.

They know the ins and outs of trademark registration, and know exactly how to maximize your chances of getting the trademark registered.

The total time for an application to be processed may be anywhere from six months to several years, depending on the basis for filing and the legal issues that may arise in the examination of the application.

No. The examining attorney will review the application and may issue refusals based on the Trademark Act of 1946, 15 U.S.C. §1051 et seq., or the Trademark Rules of Practice, 37 C.F.R. Part 2.

This is why we have a team of trademark registration experts who have helped 10,000+ clients get their trademarks registered. We dot the I's and cross the T’s to maximize your chances of success.

When a conflict exists between the applicant's mark and a registered mark, the examining attorney will refuse registration of the applicant's mark on the ground of likelihood of confusion.

If a conflict exists between the applicant's mark and a mark in an earlier-filed pending application, the examining attorney will notify the applicant of the potential conflict.

The applicant's mark will be refused on the ground of likelihood of confusion only if the earlier-filed application becomes registered. Therefore, it is critical that you conduct a trademark search for conflicting marks before you file.

Other common reasons for trademark application rejection are:

• I. A mark be can be refused as deceptively misdescriptive if:
  • a. the mark misdescribes an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose or use of the specified goods or services
  • b. the misrepresentation conveyed by the mark is plausible
  • See more information here.
• II. A mark can be refused as primarily geographically deceptively misdescriptive if:
  • a. the primary significance of the mark is a generally known geographic location
  • b. purchasers would be likely to think that the goods or services originate in the geographic place identified in the mark
  • c. the goods or services do not originate in the place identified in the mark
  • d. the misrepresentation would be a material factor in a significant portion of the relevant consumers’ decision to buy the goods or use the services
  • See more information here.
• III. The examining attorney can refuse registration of a mark on grounds of being primarily merely a surname if the primary significance to the purchasing public is a “surname”, i.e., a family name or last name.
  See more information here.
• IV. The examining attorney will refuse registration if the applied-for mark is merely a decorative feature or part of the "dress" of the goods. Such matter is merely ornamentation and does not serve the trademark function of identifying and distinguishing the applicant's goods from those of others

Trademark
A trademark generally protects a word, phrase, symbol and/or design that distinguishes the source of the goods -- what we think of as brand name and brand recognition. A trademark, if properly maintained, can last forever.

Patent
A patent generally protects an invention, including the functionality or design, or in other words, “any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.” 35 U.S.C. § 101. A patent typically gives the owner the exclusive right to manufacture products or employ processes covered by the patent for 20 years from the earliest priority date.

Copyright
Copyrights generally protect artistic works such as books, photographs, arts, movies and music.

It can last up to 10 years. The registration can easily be renewed so long as you have made sure to maintain an uninterrupted use of your trademark in interstate commerce.

In practice, almost any “device” can be a trademark (or service mark), including sounds, smells, color, trade dress and moving images, limited only by creativity and acceptance as a source identifier in the marketplace.

A band name may function as a service mark for "entertainment services in the nature of performances by a musical group" if it is used to identify live performances.

There are no specific requirements on where the "®" symbol should be placed relative to the mark, but most businesses use the symbol in the upper right corner of the mark. The "®" symbol indicates that you have federally registered your trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

If you have a federally registered trademark, you will be able to use the ® symbol. For every other mark, whether unregistered or registered, you will not be required to add a designation. However, we always advise mark owners to attach the ‘SM’ or ‘TM’ symbol to let the industry know that your company name, logo, or symbol is proprietary to your services or goods.

Under U.S. law, a “common law trademark” is generally established when someone uses a company name, logo or slogan in commerce, even if it is not registered. So, why pay to register a trademark when a common law trademark may already exist?

Common law rights ordinarily are limited to the geographic area where the mark is used as opposed to the nationwide protection customarily obtained when a mark is registered with the USPTO. So, unless registered, the use of a mark can be geographically limited, which hampers the ability to expand the brand.

On the other hand, a person using a mark in a limited geographic area could be boxed in by someone else who offensively registers a similar mark. In addition, registration of a trademark can give the person holding the registered trademark a leg up in court as to the validity of the mark and the date of usage in later trademark infringement litigation, if it comes to that.

There are also favorable remedies available to registered trademark owners in the event of litigation. Finally, once a trademark is accepted by the USPTO, it will be maintained in the USPTO database, which can discourage others from using the mark in the future. Future companies should be on notice that the mark is already spoken for, which should in turn help avoid at least some disputes.

Some small business owners assume that trademarking is just for global brands. But protecting your hard work and your brand identity is just as important for small businesses as it is for huge corporations.

Brand logos are the most obvious and most commonly trademarked items for small businesses. But you can also trademark words, symbols, packaging, and even sounds. Trademark assessment is a case-by-case basis, so if you have a question about whether part of your brand identity is trademark-worthy, a small business intellectual property attorney can answer your questions.

Experts recommend making your logo and other business branding as unique as possible. This serves two purposes:

A unique logo or symbol affords instant brand recognition.

A unique logo or symbol will afford your business greater intellectual property protection because it will be so distinctive, and therefore harder to copy.