Can i buy a trademark from someone [Fact-Checked]

Last updated : Aug 29, 2022

How much does it cost to buy a trademark from someone?

The basic cost to trademark a business name ranges from $225 to $600 per trademark class. This is the cost to submit your trademark application to the USPTO. The easiest and least expensive way to register your trademark is online, through the USPTO's Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).

Can trademarks be bought and sold?

Patents, trademarks, and copyrights are all forms of intellectual property and just like any other property, intellectual property can be bought, sold, inherited, or otherwise transferred.

Can a trademark be transferred to someone else?

A trademark assignment is a document signed by the original owner (“assignor”) that transfers ownership of the trademark to a new owner (“assignee”). In most cases, the new owner does not need to sign the document because only the assignor signs the trademark assignment to transfer trademark rights.

How long does a trademark last?

A federal trademark lasts 10 years from the date of registration, with 10-year renewal terms. Between the fifth and sixth year after the registration date, the registrant must file an affidavit to state that the mark is still in use.

How do you determine the value of a trademark?

Some of the most common approaches to/methods of valuing a trademark are: (1) the income approach, which assigns a value to a trademark based on past and expected future profits of the goods/services associated with the trademark; (2) the market approach, which assigns a value based on comparisons of transactions (such ...

How do I sell a registered trademark?

Once you have trademarked your company's name, you can sell or transfer your trademark at any time. You will have to find a buyer and arrange a price yourself. Once you have a buyer, selling your trademark requires you to file paperwork with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Can you trademark a name and sell it?

Since trade marks are property, you can sell or transfer them to another party as you would any other business assets. In legal terms, this is known as transfer of ownership or trade mark assignment.

Can you buy a trademark without the business?

People who are applying for a trade mark for their business name often ask whether they need to have a registered business name before applying for a trade mark. The short answer is no, your business name does not need to be registered in order for you to apply for a trade mark.

How do you change ownership of a brand?

1. Assignor/Owner of Trademark must have the intention and consent for Trademark Assignment.
2. Assignment of trademark must be in writing.
3. There must be two identifying parties – Assignor and Assignee.
4. Valid Identified documents of both Assignor and Assignee.
5. Execution of valid Trademark Assignment Agreement.

How long does it take to transfer ownership of trademark?

With online filing, the transfer is typically processed within one business day. The filing fee for this service is $40. You can also file by mail, which will take about a week to process.

What are the three types of trademarks?

What you'll learn: Arbitrary and Fanciful Trademarks. Suggestive Trademarks. Descriptive Trademarks.

Can you lose a trademark if you don't protect it?

If you don't enforce your trademark, you risk losing reputation, business, sales, customers, and more to the infringer. There's also a concept in trademark law called abandonment. Generally, if you don't use your mark for three years or more, it's considered abandoned.

What can I do with a trademark?

A trademark protects a good or service offered by a company from infringement or damage of reputation by another company. With a trademark, you have legal recourse to sue another company that uses your likeness to further their own business ventures. This includes both registered and unregistered trademarks.

What is the most valuable trademark?

• Amazon – 416 Billion Dollars.
• Apple – 352 Billion Dollars.
• Microsoft – 327 Billion Dollars.
• Google – 324 Billion Dollars.
• Visa – 187 Billion Dollars.
• Alibaba – 153 Billion Dollars.
• Tencent – 151 Billion Dollars.
• Facebook – 147 Billion Dollars.

Why are trademarks so valuable?

Trademarks are a symbol of the identity of your business. The original names, phrases, symbols, logos, and designs that you create for your business help to identify your products and services. Consumers will be able to distinguish your offerings from that of competing businesses largely thanks to memorable trademarks.

What is goodwill trademark?

The "goodwill" of a trademark relates to the inherent value of your trademarks - that is the recognition of your mark among consumers and the extra earning power that it generates.

How many times can a trademark be renewed?

One can renew trademarks as it is. Renewal of trademarks can be done with modifications to the intellectual property. Submit the renewal application by filling out the form TM-R. Trademark renewal can be filled by authorized personnel other than the registered owner.

How do you sell a trademarked item legally?

The only way to legally sell items with a trademark that you do not own is to obtain a license from the trademark owner. Trademarks are valuable property rights and are vigorously protected by their owners in most cases -- even against a small, localized business.

Should I trademark before selling?

Ideally, you should file a trademark application before revealing your mark.

What words can you not trademark?

• Proper names or likenesses without consent from the person.
• Generic terms, phrases, or the like.
• Government symbols or insignia.
• Vulgar or disparaging words or phrases.
• The likeness of a U.S. President, former or current.
• Immoral, deceptive, or scandalous words or symbols.
• Sounds or short motifs.

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hi everybody and welcome to episode 12 of ask a trademark attorney in today's episode we're going to discover whether or not you can purchase a trademark the short answer is yes you can certainly buy a trademark or a trademark registration from someone that wants to sell it trademarks are considered intangible forms of property this means they are a property right just like owning a piece of real estate and can be bought and sold that said there's very specific requirements for purchasing a trademark and acquiring a proper chain of title so that you can own the trademark that somebody else owned and enforce it as if you were the original owner so if you're looking to purchase a trademark it's extremely important to consider a few things one does the person you're buying the trademark or trademark registration from have the proper ownership in place in other words somebody could own a trademark registration but the registration itself may have inherent issues maybe they haven't used the trademark in years maybe they never use the trademark and just registered it for the purpose of trying to sell it if you bought a trademark like that and you want to enforce it somebody may just be able to cancel on grounds that was inappropriately obtained so you really need to do your due diligence and who you're buying from and what you're buying specifically the second thing you need to be aware of is that to properly purchase a trademark and get in your name yourself you need to have a specific document called a trademark assignment completed depending on the circumstances there's a lot of magic language that has to go into this agreement meaning there's certain words that really need to be in there to properly transfer the rights to you and it's really recommended that you have an attorney do this because if you do it yourself and you don't use certain language the transfer of rights may not be complete and when you go to enforce a trademark again you may find there's an improper transfer of the title or improper chain of title which could be used against you in a court proceeding so I hope you found this video helpful as a bottom line yes you can certainly purchase a trademark or trademark registration from someone else you just need to be very careful that you're purchasing valid rights and then have them properly transferred over to you if you have any further questions on this please feel free to give us a call you

Thanks for your comment Grover Calnen, have a nice day.
- Dorcas Kebort, Staff Member

great question from Quora if my brand is well-established but I didn't trademark the name can someone else trademark it and then file lawsuit on me even after I've been using the name for years i'm andre mink of the father of trademark factory and here's my answer to this question why oh my what a question so you have a well-established brand but you didn't trade market why not thirsty why not why the hell not why would you not protect a well-established brand something that can become your most valuable asset of your entire business why would you not protect it it's beyond me but okay let's go with your scenario you've got a well-established business and you didn't trademark the name can't someone else trademark it and then sue you for trademark infringement yes yes they can and here's why the trademarks office doesn't care about unregistered trademarks they don't care how long you've been using this mark without trademark Ian they don't care how well-established your brand is all they care about are trademarks that have been applied for or registered within their system that's the only thing they look at so unless you've got a famous brand that for some reason isn't trademarked which is almost something that never happens but we're talking about massive brands like Microsoft you know or say this type of brands big brands and if you're not one of them then doesn't apply to you because it's called famous trademarks they have special treatment but Trevor's office does not care about trademarks outside of their system so anybody else could jump in and trademark your brand and they would have a trademark registration certificate and when they do have one yes they can file a lawsuit against you and if you don't respond to that lawsuit they will win no matter how long no matter all well established you are with your business and with your brand because anybody can sue anybody for anything doesn't mean they're gonna win but what it does mean is if somebody Sue's you you have to defend it you have to defend it you have to spend money you have to toss spend time you have to spend your emotions you have to spend your energy fighting this lawsuit because if you don't a default judgment is gonna be entered against you and you're gonna lose even if you're right and they're wrong so but let's say you've got the budget to defend the case then yes probably you'll win if you can prove that you were there with us brand in the same industry long before they trademark theirs if you are in the country that respects unregistered trademarks as common law trademarks for example you ask for Canada then you would in theory be able to win but it's gonna cost you hundreds of times more then it would have cost you to just go ahead and trademark the damn thing a good example that I have is so there was a case in Canada called woodpecker flooring so there was this flooring company in Richmond it's near Vancouver and they were in business for 20 years well established never bothered to trade on their name so a competitor across the street we have a whole street there in Richmond where as near idea we're all of those you know home declarations and home construction companies are right they sell all sorts of stuff and there's a lot of them across the street so there's their competitor across the street goes ahead and trademarks woodpecker flooring and trademarks office doesn't care about the twenty year old company because they haven't bothered to trade wonder the name so they register that trademark and then the new company finds nothing better to do than to file a lawsuit against the old company I'd say Dada Dada Dada we all this trademark you should stop using this brand because it's now ours and the old company was having none of it they defended the case they won the new company appealed so the old company won that as well so on by the book by the book the old company is okay right they they got they they won the Webster they they want lawsuit here's the problem with that well actually two problems problem number one the old company had to spend a lot of money well into six figures to defend the case to not be found infringing the rights of the new company and second even more important the new company still owns that mark they just can't enforce it against the company it was there first but the old company can't expand anymore geographically so they can't open woodpecker flooring let's say you know in Theriot or they can't or Alberta or any other province in Canada because trademarks are federal so the only exception to the enforceability of that new trademark is Vancouver and Richmond right this close area next to that store because this is where the old company still has what's called common law rights to the name but that's it that's it if they have not become known under that name in a certain part of the country when somebody else trademarks the same brand you're out of luck now they own it so if your brand is well established but you didn't trademark the name that's the big mistake that's really where the question should stop and the real question is why haven't you because if you're if you're hoping that nobody's gonna steal your brand if you're hoping that nobody's going to try to hijack it and then maybe get some money from you you're sorely mistaken the way I always say is before your business becomes truly successful somebody will trademark your brand it could be you or it could be somebody else why wouldn't it be you why would you create a massive problem for your business the problem that can be easily and inexpensively solved preemptively today so don't wait trademark your brand and don't worry about somebody else stealing it from you it's not really that expensive in fact for a business that's a real business it's not a hobby it's not expensive at all now I hope this answers your question make sure you like this video comment below and subscribe right we are working on these videos and the only way for us to know if you like them is by seeing your engagement just comments likes and subscribes so if you haven't yet subscribe now get notified whenever the next video goes live and I'll take it from there and I'll see you in the next video

Thanks bayibize2 your participation is very much appreciated
- Dorcas Kebort

About the author

Dorcas Kebort

I've studied space sex at University of Maryland, Baltimore in Baltimore and I am an expert in aerobics. I usually feel blank. My previous job was music arrangers and orchestrators I held this position for 26 years, I love talking about candle making and jumping. Huge fan of Chanakya I practice lacrosse and collect toys.