Why Should You Trademark Your Business In The US?
Trademark protection is territorial and exists only within the boundaries of a country
where the trademark has been filed.
Online U.S Trademark Registration - An Overview
A trademark, which protects the brand name of a business, can include a word, symbol, logo, or any combination used to distinguish the respective products and/or services from the similar ones in the market.
Trademark protection is territorial and exists only within the boundaries of a country where the trademark has been filed. Entities looking at expanding their businesses internationally must ensure that their trademark is adequately protected in the respective countries where they intend to start their business.
One of the economically leading countries, the United States of America has its own Federal Law and respective State Laws pertaining to trademarks, and a centralized governing authority called as the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Why register a US trademark? Benefits
Us Trademark Registration Offers The Following Benefits To The Business:
- Legal ownership throughout all states in the US
- A USPTO trademark registration confers the highest degree of protection for a brand name
- Exclusive usage rights
- Right to refrain others from using the trademark
- The trademark gets listed on the USPTO Trademark Database (Trademark Electronic Search System, or TESS)
- Right to use the ® symbol
- A USPTO trademark registration increases the valuation of the brand name as well as the business
- Rights to take legal action against infringers and counterfeits
- A USPTO trademark registration provides legal authenticity to the brand and the business, which in turn would increase the customer base
How to register a trademark in the US
Prior to filing a US trademark application, you must check whether the intended mark is available to register. This can be done through online Trademark search in the USTPO database.
US Trademark search
The USPTO’s Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) database displays all the registered trademarks and pending trademark applications at one place. You can do a free online search to find if there are any existing, identical marks that may likely cause confusion to the proposed mark. To understand how this works, it is important to know:
1. How To Perform A Thorough Us Trademark Search
The applicants can use any of the three search options, namely Basic word mark search, design mark search and combination of word and design mark search by specifying the “Search term”. All the trademarks related to the specified term will be pulled up at once.
2. How To Read The Results
When a particular result is clicked the following details will be displayed:
- US Serial number
- Mark type
- Description
- Status – whether pending or active
- Owner’s name, address and entity type
- Prosecution history
- Proceedings, if any
And so on.
Buiznest trademark professionals and US Trademark Attorneys will help clients understand the results and offer the appropriate advice.
Identification of class
The USPTO has classified all the goods and services under 45 classes, under which the trademarks have to be registered. These classes are also called as NICE classification (NCL). For example, all musical instruments fall under Class 15; Class 14 contains all precious metals and their alloys, precious stones, etc.
The class has to be identified based on the product or service.
Preparing a US Trademark application
The trademark application must include the following details:
Applicant’s Details:
The type of business entity – LLP, Private Limted, or LLC, business name and contact details like email address and mobile number.
Format Of Mark:
The intended mark could of three formats:
Standard Character Format:
This format is when the mark consists of words, letters, numbers or combinations without no specific designs and font styles.
Special Character Format:
If the mark contains any stylized words or numbers in particular typeface, colour and styling as in “Google”, “ebay”, “Kellogg’s” then it would be of special character format.
Sound Mark:
Sound marks are for businesses who want to register their jingles and chimes. For example, Intel’s five-note logo.
Specimen of use
As part of the US trademark registration process, the next step is to provide a specimen of your work, i.e. a drawing of the mark that gives a visual deception of how it looks and how well is it connected with the products/services you offer. The specimen must be submitted in supporting documents like
Trademark specification
The intended trademark’s specifications must carefully be drafted to include all the products/services your business offers. It should be as per the acceptable entries of the ID Manual of USPTO, which contains the list of acceptable identification of goods and services. If there is already an accurate description of the products or goods and services it can be used, else the description has to be given in your own words.
Trademark Filing Basis (SEC. 1A, 1B, 44D, 44E)
As per the Trademark Law, the “filing basis” must include on which basis the trademark or service mark has been filed with the USPTO. It could be one or more basis, depending on the requirement.
The Four Bases Are:
Use in Commerce: This basis is if the mark is being used for trade of goods/services across different states and countries or within one state.
Intent to Use: As the name suggests if you “intend” to use the mark in trade and commerce in the near future, maybe within four to five years, it can be filed on this basis.
Foreign Application basis under Section 44(d): If you are looking to register the foreign application that has already been filed within 6 months.
Foreign Registration basis under Section 44(e): If the mark already has a foreign registration, the relevant information along with the certificate has to be submitted.
Filing of US trademark application
Step 1: Filing Of Application
Once the application is prepared with all the essential details, it is filed with the USPTO and an official filing receipt along with the serial number is issued. The real-time status of the filed trademark can be tracked at http://tsdr.uspto.gov/ using the serial number.
Step 2: Trademark Examination
Upon filing the application, within the next three months it will be assigned to the Trademark Examiner or Trademark Attorney, who will investigate the application for substantive grounds of objection (similarity with other marks, etc.).
Step 3: Trademark Office Action
If any informality and/or substantive ground of objection is found during the examination, an Office Action notice will be issued. You have 6 months time period to file a reply to the Office Action and remove the respective informality and/or respond to why the substantive ground of objection must be waived.
Step 4: Publication Of Trademark Action
In the event of no informality and/or objection, or once a response to the Office Action has been filed and the same is duly accepted by the Examiner, your trademark application shall be approved for publication in the respective Trademark Official Gazette. The Gazette lists all the newly published marks renewed and cancelled marks. A prior Notice of Publication shall be issued by the USPTO stating the date of the publication of the trademark application.
Step 5: Trademark Opposition Period
Within 30 days from the date of publication of the trademark application in the Trademark Official Gazette, any third party and other trademark owners may oppose that your mark is similar to their brand and/or may cause commercial or economic harm to them. In such a case, they can also file for an extension of time for a period of maximum 180 days for filing an opposition against the trademark, subject to the approval from the USPTO.
In the event an opposition is filed within 30 days or the extended time period, the respective opposition proceedings shall be initiated.
Step 6: Trademark Registration
If no opposition arises during this period, the USPTO shall issue the Registration Certificate for the trademark, provided the application is not filed on Intent to Use Filing Basic (Sec. 1b). For a trademark application filed on Intent to Use basis, the USPTO shall issue a Notice of Allowance.
If no opposition arises during this period, the USPTO shall issue the Registration Certificate for the trademark, provided the application is not filed on Intent to Use Filing Basic (Sec. 1b). For a trademark application filed on Intent to Use basis, the USPTO shall issue a Notice of Allowance.
If no opposition arises during this period, the USPTO shall issue the Registration Certificate for the trademark, provided the application is not filed on Intent to Use Filing Basic (Sec. 1b). For a trademark application filed on Intent to Use basis, the USPTO shall issue a Notice of Allowance.
US trademark validity:
The trademark once registered shall be valid for a period of 10 years from the date of application
Information/Documents Required For Us Trademark
- Name of the applicant, address and type of entity along with the applicant’s signature and verification
- Identification of relevant goods and services
- The filing basis
- Specimen or drawing of the intended mark. Video clips or audio files if it is a sound mark
- Description of the mark
- Filing fees
Why Buiznest?
Legal Support On Us Trademark Search
Besides just conducting a US trademark search, our expert panel of lawyers offers legal advice on the possibilities of objection/opposition by third parties. A trademark is not only the business identity but also a valuable asset with quite a lot of financial investments, safeguarding the trademark at the very first stage of the application becomes extremely vital.
Identifying The Class Of Product/Service
We provide legal assistance in identifying the accurate class for the filing based on the products and/or services offered by your business.
For instance, the manufacturing of cosmetics and its distribution (retail/wholesale) would not fall under one class, rather it would be two different classes.
Us Trademark Filing Basis
Our professionals provide you with a thorough understanding of the various US Trademark Filing Basis options available with the USPTO and help you choose the appropriate US trademark Filing Basis for your business. Not only that we also offer comprehensive advice on the corresponding requisites for each filing basis, that need to be complied with.
Spicemen Of Use
The USPTO follows stringent norms regarding the specimen of use submitted for an application filed claiming use. Our expert panel of US attorneys provides insightful and illustrative advice on the appropriate and the acceptable specimen of use.
Regular Updates On Notifications
We keep a close watch on the day-to-day status of the trademark application in the USPTO database. Our team sends regular notifications to you as and when required and duly advice the further course of action.
Us Trademark Maintenance
Our obligation towards your trademark does not end with its successful registration, and we offer all US Trademark Maintenance services, including monitoring the registration status, any updates that your company make with regard to address or entity type.
FAQs on USA trademark
Are trademark, copyright and patent rights the same?
Is my company/business registration name and trademark one in the same?
How do I check the status of a trademark application?
What are the general grounds for refusal of a trademark?
Can rejected applications be appealed?
What is the timeframe for a trademark to get registered?
Does a registered trademark need renewal?
Why Buiznest
60 Established Vendors
Buiznest has successfully completed 600+ registrations in the past year alone. We have partnered with some of the top experts in business across India to get your registration across to you on time.
9.1 Customer Score
We make your interaction with the government as smooth as is possible by doing all the paperwork for you. We will also give you absolute clarity on the process to set realistic expectations.
200+ Strong Team
Our team of experienced business advisors are a phone call away, should you have any queries about the process. But we’ll try to ensure that your doubts are cleared before they even arise.
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