Registered trademark requirements [Video]



Last updated : Sept 12, 2022
Written by : Valene Sciandra
Current current readers : 8758
Write a comment

Registered trademark requirements

Is registered trademark required?

You are not required to register your trademark, but where or whether you decide to register your trademark can determine the scope of your rights. Specifically, you can rely on common law rights or file for state, federal, or international trademark registration.

What are the elements of a trademark?

§ 1125(a), the plaintiff must demonstrate that (1) it has a valid and legally protectable mark; (2) it owns the mark; and (3) the defendant's use of the mark to identify goods or services causes a likelihood of confusion.

What can be registered as trademarks?

  • Name. The name can be further categorised as a product name, business name, or name of any individual or surname.
  • Product name. Many companies take trademark registration for the name of their products.
  • Business name.
  • Name of a person.
  • Surnames.
  • Logo or symbols.
  • Tag line.
  • Sound mark.

What documents are required for trademark registration in USA?

  • Application form.
  • Copy of Applicant's Id and address proof.
  • Copy of the business/company certificate.
  • Letter of power of attorney.
  • Print and digital version of proposed trademark.
  • Copy of the passport of applicant.

What are the three requirements for trademarks?

  • Arbitrary, fanciful, or suggestive: If a mark is a part of one of these three categories, the mark is inherently distinctive.
  • Descriptive: A descriptive mark can only be trademarked if it has taken on a second meaning.
  • Generic: Marks that are generic are never trademarked.

What is the difference between a trademark and a registered trademark?

First, many countries recognize two different types of markings that denote trademark status: ® and ™. The "®" indicates that a trademark has been registered with a country's trademark office, and the "™" means that the user is claiming rights to the brand without registering the mark.

What are the 4 types of trademarks?

  • Generic. A generic term is a common description that does not receive trademark protection.
  • Descriptive.
  • Suggestive.
  • Arbitrary or Fanciful.

What violates a trademark?

Trademark infringement is the unauthorized use of a trademark or service mark on or in connection with goods and/or services in a manner that is likely to cause confusion, deception, or mistake about the source of the goods and/or services.

How long is a trademark good for?

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.

Can I put TM on my logo?

You can claim a trademark on anything by using the TM Symbol, but you can't use the registered trademark symbol (R) unless you have registered the trademark with the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Can I use TM without registering?

The (TM) symbol actually has no legal meaning. You can use the symbol on any mark that your company uses without registering it. The most common use of the TM symbol is on a new phrase, logo, word, or design that a company plans to register through the USPTO.

Can you trademark a common name?

“Can you trademark a name” is a common question. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office can register an individual's name as a part of a trademark; however, it only grants protection to names that are extensively utilized in commerce or ones that are distinctive.

How long is the trademark process?

Usually, the process takes 12 to 18 months. Registering your trademark is a complex procedure that involves your application moving through various stages. Learning about each stage in the process will help you understand why getting a trademark takes as long as it does.

How much is a trademark?

No matter how you file, you will pay a minimum of $250 to apply for a Federal trademark. But considering the importance of your trademark, and the potential complexities you face when filing, it's not a bad idea to use a lawyer or filing service.

How do I register my brand in USA?

Key takeaway: To register and trademark your brand name, search the TESS database for similar brand names, fill out the trademark application and submit it to the USPTO for review.

Can I trademark a name without a business?

You can't register a trademark for non-business purposes. You can only trademark a brand name that you're using in business or that you intend to use in business in the near future. You can't register a generic or descriptive name.

When can you use registered trademark?

You may use the registration symbol anywhere around the trademark, although most trademark owners use the symbol in a superscript or subscript manner to the right of the trademark. You may only use the registration symbol with the trademark for the goods or services listed in the federal trademark registration.

Is it worth trademarking a business name?

Names hold power in business. So establishing ownership of and rights to a business name is an important step for businesses that want to ensure a name remains one-of-a-kind. Registering a trademark helps protect a name or brand from intellectual property theft or misuse as a business grows.

Can I use my trademark while its pending?

A trademark pending status is an interim solution for protecting your intellectual property. You can use the trademark or service mark symbols with your design, but you need to make sure you file the trademark application as soon as possible.

What words Cannot be trademarked?

  • 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.


more content related articles
Check these related keywords for more interesting articles :
How are trademarks beneficial in the conduct of a business
How do i trademark a brand name and logo
Intellectual property clause service agreement
How to i trademark a logo
How to copyright excel spreadsheet
How to sign up for patent bar
Is it necessary to trademark a company name
Trademark is legally protecting your brand
What does the trademark law protect
Trademark search madrid
How to check patent ownership
How to check if product has patent
Trademark engine sign in
Can you register an expired trademark
Can you copyright a text








Did you find this article relevant to what you were looking for?


Write a comment




Registered trademark requirements


Comment by Carmen Zlotnick

hi everyone I'm attorney aid in Durham with 180 lock Oh in Denver Colorado and you're watching all up in your business in this episode of all up in your business we're going to talk about the steps to take to trademark a name a business name or a product or service name and these steps are also going to apply to trademarking a logo but there are a few little differences if you're doing a logo versus trying to trademark a name but first before we get into it huge announcement coming at you March 4th is brandish DIY your trademark application during this one-hour webinar and mini workshop I'm going to teach you step by step how to prepare for complete and submit a trademark application without a lawyer and registration opens soon so if you want to learn the exact steps to take to file a trademark application without a lawyer check the description below for a link to get on the waitlist and to get some special early bird discount opportunities - all right let's talk about how to trademark a name the first step before you go trade marking anything is make sure it's something that's worth trademarking what makes a name more or less worth trade marking it really depends on how strong or weak it is a weak trademark is one that is more generic or common or descriptive versus a strong trademark which is something that's very arbitrary or very distinctive very creative and so the stronger your trademark is the stronger the trademark registration is going to be so if you have a really weak trademark something that typically makes it weak is if it's very descriptive of your goods or your services or if it's primarily your last name something like that makes a trademark on the weaker side and with a weak trademark if you register it all you have is a registered weak trademark and your trademark rights will ruffle to that if you have a weak generic trademark name your rights to enforce that trademark are gonna be somewhat limited and weaker versus if you have a very arbitrary name that's a stronger trademark then your registered trademark rights are gonna be a lot stronger to a few examples of very strong trademarks are like Google Google wasn't even a word until Google came out and created it so any like brand new word or creating a new word creating a new sound combining words to create something new that's the best thing you can do is create a brand new word or a brand new trademark that no one's ever seen before that's gonna make it stronger versus a weaker trademark so if we've decided that it's worth pursuing a trademark registration the next thing we want to do is make sure it's available to even register and use in the US a good first place to start with searching for your trademark availability is of course Google or your favorite search engine type in the trademark that you're looking to register and see what comes up if there's a bunch of other business listings for similar types of products or services if the exact trademark that you want comes up a lot or if there are a lot of similar variations then that might be a little red flag that maybe this trademark has already taken or if it's not taken necessarily registered if there's a lot of competition with that trademark that's going to affect how strong and distinctive your trademark is so if you're seeing a lot of similar variations of your trademark or identical trademarks then you might want to think about how that will impact your registration and then after doing a Google search you can also do a search on the Whois database to see what kind of domain name registrations already exists that incorporate your trademark or something similar to it and then the USP tA-o has a really good search database available - this allows you to search for pending trademark applications and registered trademarks that might be identical or similar to yours so if you go to the USPTO s website its uspto.gov and you'll navigate to their tests tes s system and this is where you're gonna do that search and you'll usually be able to do just a basic word search for your name now this is where the difference comes in if you're trying to trademark a logo then you'll want to do a design search which is a bit more complicated than just a basic word search so here you can type in the trademark name that you're wanting to use for this example I'm gonna type in all up in your business and then we'll see what comes up so let's say you were wanting to register your trademark all up in your business for your local ice cream shop we see here there is an active live registration for all up in yo business so what's important to note if you do find trademarks that are identical to yours or kind of similar to yours pay attention also to the goods or services that are associated with that registration there are two things primarily that go into trademark applications and trademark registrations the first is the similarity of the trademark itself the second is the similarity of the goods or services so if I'm opening an ice cream shop called all opinio business this current all up in your business registration is for like legal services and things that have absolutely nothing to do with ice cream or ice cream shops so with this finding I am relatively safe feeling like I can proceed with my application because there aren't any that are so similar in trademark and in the goods and services that it's likely it'll get through but if you do find something in the database that is kind of similar to your trademark and goods or services are somewhat related or if they're identical then again that's a red flag that you're going to want to take into consideration and maybe go back to the drawing board because if someone else already has that trademark registered in a very related category of goods or services that's going to impact how your application goes and whether or not you're going to get that registration you can also use some third-party trademark search tools there are companies out there that will do a very thorough trademark search these aren't lawyers or law offices they're just trademark search companies that will search the USPTO and common-law usage and even international usage and then what they'll do is they'll compile all the information and give you typically this very large report summarizing what they found now if you're not a lawyer and you don't know how to actually interpret and analyze those results it may not do you a whole lot of good to pay for that kind of a search but if you can figure out how to analyze what you're looking at then using one of those services for a pretty extensive search is a good idea but really the best option is to use an attorney to help you with this clearance search because the attorney is gonna not only know what to search for but they're also going to understand what they're looking at and they're gonna know how to analyze that in the context of your trademark and determine what it actually means for the fate of your trademark application so if we've determined we want to file the application and the trademark is available the next step is to start using the trademark now ok


Thanks for your comment Carmen Zlotnick, have a nice day.
- Valene Sciandra, Staff Member


Comment by Richard

well here's the question I got on Bora do I have to be a citizen or resident of the jurisdiction in which I am filing a trademark application I'm not very many co-founder of trademark factories here's my answer to this question with a short answer and the short answer is no as you can't follow your trademark anywhere regardless of whether you live there regardless of whether you have business presence there is you can't file your trademark regardless your resident doesn't matter all that matters is that you have a genuine intention to use that brand in that jurisdiction and that's all you need there is some complexity around filing Madryn application international trademark application which needs to be based on let's for the basic applicational / engineering application that you must file in your home country but beyond that you can file applications anywhere you want without ever stepping your foot in that country for example trademark factory our own brand we trademarked it in New Zealand I've never been to New Zealand which we got our registration or our trademark Factory in New Zealand does that make sense okay I hope you find this answer useful if you did and you're not subscribed yet subscribe now we post these videos every single day and you got another question for me if you want to ask me something that has something to do with brands something to do with trademarks something to do with entrepreneurship ask away post a comment below and I'll shoot a video or just like this one and I till then I'll see you in the next day


Thanks Richard your participation is very much appreciated
- Valene Sciandra


About the author