we can help you file your trademark.

Trademarks are a form of intellectual property, but they are NOT interchangeable with copyright or patent. A trademark is a word or symbol that identifies the source of a product or service.

Registering a trademark provides legal evidence you own a trademark and can be extremely valuable if you need to enforce your rights against others using a similar name or logo. It also grants a presumptive right to use the mark nationwide in connection with your goods or services.

A comprehensive trademark search helps determine if a similar mark is already registered or in use. Conducting a thorough search can help avoid conflicts and potential legal issues, as well as prevent unnecessary spending. We recommend all our clients start with a trademark search.

™ (Trademark): Can be used with an unregistered mark to indicate branding.

® (Registered Trademark): Can only be used after the trademark is officially registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The process may be completed in as little as 12 months, but this depends on a wide variety of circumstances including the complexity of the application, the filing basis, and any potential objections or oppositions.

If your application is refused registration by the USPTO, you will receive an Office Action outlining the legal basis for the refusal. You can respond with an Office Action Response that includes a legal argument to try to overcome the refusal.

Common reasons trademarks may be refused are:

• Too similar to an existing mark
• Descriptive or generic terms (e.g., “Best Coffee”)
• Deceptive or misleading
• Names of living people without consent

U.S. trademarks only provide protection within the United States. If you need international trademark protection it requires a separate procedure. One way to obtain international protection is to use your U.S. trademark application as the base application for an International Registration. If you need international protection, we can help you file.

A trademark is a word, phrase, sound, logo, image or other device that identifies the source of your product or service. Think of brand names you are familiar with. You may find the quality of a certain brand to your liking, so you look for that brand when you want to purchase that product. If you prefer X brand of salt, you will purchase X brand next time you run out of salt. You will not purchase Y brand if X brand is available. Thus, a trademark provides the business owner with value because it encourages customer loyalty. This is called good will.

You obtain trademark rights in the USA by using your trademark or service mark to promote or sell your product or service. When you use a trademark that is not registered by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, you should show you claim rights in the mark by placing the TM symbol immediately after the mark.

Receive your advice and attorney consultation before you introduce your new product or service.

Ideally, you should engage the services of an experienced trademark attorney whenever your company is considering launching a new product or service. The best time to get a trademark attorney involved is before you have committed significant resources to your new trademark.

If you want to make an application for federal registration of your mark, it is wise to engage a trademark attorney to guide you through the formalities of the application process. Even if you have already been using the mark for some time, we can advise you whether it makes sense to apply for federal registration, and if so, we can skillfully draft your application to help avoid objections by the government trademark examiner.

Besides trademark clearance and prosecution of applications for registration, a trademark attorney can help enforce your trademark. Your trademark attorney can maintain a trademark watch to monitor potential infringing trademark use and alert you when such uses are uncovered. Your trademark attorney can advise you whether it makes sense for you to take action to stop a potentially infringing use. If action is needed, your trademark attorney can go to work for you to put an end to the infringing use. On the flip side, your trademark attorney can offer you sound advice if you receive a cease and desist letter demanding that you stop using your trademark. Most importantly, hiring a trademark attorney at the right stage of your marketing campaign can help you to avoid adopting a mark that will be likely to subject you to liability for trademark infringement.

A trademark attorney can advise you whether your proposed mark would be registrable in relation to your goods or services, and can help you go through the process of selecting a trademark. A good trademark attorney can become an important partner in your company’s strategy for growth, by making sure you take the necessary steps to safeguard your important intellectual property.

Consult with a trademark attorney. Arm yourself with the knowledge to use trademarks wisely and avoid costly mistakes.

If you compare the cost of engaging an experienced trademark attorney to the cost of litigating a trademark dispute, or the cost incurred if your company has to stop using a mark after spending years building up the value of the mark through expensive advertising campaigns, it becomes clear that hiring a trademark attorney can actually save you money. It costs more to hire a pilot than to fly the plane yourself, but there is value in having someone with experience at the controls. Like flying, trademark use involves risk. It is the job of the trademark attorney to help clients minimize that risk as much as possible. Engaging a trademark attorney to evaluate the availability of a proposed trademark prior to launching your product or service will lower your risk in using the mark. By minimizing the risk, the value of the trademark is increased.

Do not pay for needless “services.”

Only a licensed attorney is qualified to advise you as to the legal risks inherent in trademark use, and a trademark attorney should be most knowledgeable concerning trademarks. You should never hire a non-attorney agent to perform a trademark search or file a trademark application — it takes an experienced trademark attorney to give you a legal opinion as to the availability of a trademark for adoption, use and registration. A non-attorney may do little more than fill out forms and charge you for it. Although using a non-attorney service will undoubtedly be cheaper than hiring an experienced trademark attorney, remember: cheaper is not synonymous with better.