Copyright Office at the Library of Congress registers copyrights. A brand is a marketing concept that encompasses how people feel about your product or service. Customers associate certain elements with different brands, such as reputation, image, and emotion.
For example, a certain brand might have been developed to encourage you to feel confident, calm, or secure. On the other hand, a federal trademark registration can provide nationwide legal protection for your brand in connection with particular goods or services. It is your choice whether to protect your brand under trademark law. Entrepreneurs may consider asking their attorney to prepare and file the application on their behalf or enlist the help of an online business document filing company to ensure the form is completed and submitted correctly.
The time it takes to have a trademark approved may range from almost one year to several years, depending on the mark's complexity and any issues that arise during the USPTO's review process. Once a trademark receives approval, it will be effective for 10 years. As long as its owner complies with all legal requirements, a trademark can potentially be renewed for an unlimited number of consecutive year periods.
If not yet registered, use TM for goods or SM for services, to indicate that you have adopted this as a trademark or service mark, respectively, regardless of whether you have filed an application with the USPTO. Using TM or SM identifies to other business owners that you're stating ownership of the wording, symbol, or design.
However, without officially registering to trademark the business name with the USPTO, you may have difficulty enacting legal action against another party if they use a name that's the same or very similar. Also, consider asking a licensed attorney to help you determine if your desired mark can be legally protected and guide you in understanding how to maintain, monitor, and protect your mark. Your business name is a critical component of your brand, so take protecting that valuable marketing asset seriously.
This article was originally published on AllBusiness. This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here. To give your trademarks stronger nationwide protection, you must register them with the U. A successful trademark registration has several steps: research, an accurate application, follow-up, and regular monitoring. Here's an outline of the steps you need to take to secure and maintain your trademark. To minimize the chance that your application will be rejected for this reason, you must conduct a comprehensive trademark search before applying for federal trademark protection.
A comprehensive search will also include searches for trademarks that are registered with state governments and trademarks that have common law protection. You must also identify the types of goods or services that you use your mark for. It's important to be accurate because you will only have trademark protection for the types of goods or services you list in your application. Office actions are not unusual, and it's important to take them seriously and respond by the specified deadline.
If you miss the deadline, your application will be considered abandoned. Once all issues have been resolved, notice of your trademark will be published in the Official Gazette and anyone who objects to the trademark registration may file an opposition.
Office actions and oppositions may raise complex legal and technical issues. Because you risk having your application refused, you may want to get advice from a trademark lawyer. But your efforts to protect your trademark shouldn't end there. One way to protect your trademark is to monitor USPTO filings and oppose any applications to register trademarks that seem similar to yours. Another is to be assertive if you learn of another company that is using a name or logo that's similar to your registered trademark.
Employee retention is also positively impacted. As far as running a business, trademarks are cheap ways to help your business. After five years and 10 years, you have to renew for only a few hundred dollars each time.
At the five-year mark, you can also apply to have your trademark defined as uncontestable. Once your trademark is incontestable, it makes it hard for other companies to defend themselves against you in court.
For small businesses that don't plan to expand regionally or nationally, there's little reason to register your trademark. If you add the TM to your business name, you're protected by law, and unless a competitor starts to use the same name, you typically won't have a problem.
However, if you do business online throughout the states or overseas, a trademark is worth the effort. This is especially true if you find international businesses in the same industry. Yes and no. If one business has a trademark, and another business in the same industry uses it, that's a trademark infringement. However, two separate businesses in different industries can use the same trademark since it's not confusing to the consumer. As soon as you start using an identifiable trademark, you are protected under common, state, and federal law.
Federal law cannot protect your name in other countries. To get a trademark, you must apply in each country where you do business. Puerto Rico, Guam, and other U. Foreigners can apply for a U. Once you file for trademark registration, it takes 10 to 16 months to secure a final registration. During that time, continue to use the TM mark to avoid matters with competitors.
0コメント