Trademark registration nationwide priority [Expert-Advice]

Last updated : Aug 7, 2022

What is trademark priority?

Trademark Priority: Determining Who Was First Trademark rights in the US generally belong to the one who was first to use the mark in commerce. Whoever was first to sell goods or services under a particular mark will typically be deemed the rightful trademark owner. This is known as trademark priority.

Is US First to file trademark?

Trademark rights generally belong not to the first trademark filer, but the first user. In the US, trademark rights generally go to one who was first to use the mark in commerce, meaning that whoever was first to use a mark on certain goods or services would be presumed the lawful owner of the trademark.

Is Canada a first to file trademark country?

Canada, like the U.S., has long been a first-to-use country. This means that the first person to use the trademark in commerce is typically granted rights to the mark.

Is India a first to file country?

India operates a 'first to file' principle. If two people apply for a patent on an identical invention, the first one to file the application will be awarded the patent. India does operate a grace period where you can register a patent within 12 months of any public disclosure.

When you register a trademark with your state does it count nationwide or just in that state?

State trademarks protect a mark only in the registered state(s), meanwhile a federal trademark protects the mark(s) nationwide and potentially can be used to obtain international trademarks through the WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization.

How do you prove a prior trademark?

The prior use must create an association in the minds of the purchasing public, between the mark and the goods or services. There must be a substantial impact on the purchasing public to demonstrate use analogous to trademark use.

Is UK first-to-file trademark?

The UK is a First-to-File Country The United Kingdom grants trademark rights to the first business or individual to file a trademark application. While you may have some rights to your mark simply by using it in the UK, those common law rights are very limited and may be challenging to prove in court.

Who gets a trademark first?

Under the first-to-file trademark regime, Applicants that are first to apply for registration of their marks are assigned trademark rights and priority, irrespective of whether the Applicants have used the marks in commerce or whether the marks were used in commerce first by others.

Is Singapore a first-to-file trademark country?

First to use countries include Aruba, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, Fiji, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Jersey, Kenya, Lebanon, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Singapore, South Africa, Swaziland, Trinidad & Tobago, United ...

Is a trademark in Canada valid in the US?

Are Trademarks in the U.S. protected in Canada? The protection of a registered trademark only extends to the jurisdiction in which it was registered; therefore, if your trademark is registered in the U.S., your trademark would only be protected in the U.S. and not in Canada.

Is a Canadian trademark valid in the US?

If you are planning to expand your business outside of Canada, it is important to remember that your Canadian trademark registration offers you no protection abroad.

Do trademarks need to be registered in Canada?

You do not have to register your trademark; by using a trademark for a certain length of time, you may have rights under common law. However, if you use an unregistered trademark and end up in a dispute, you could be looking at a long, expensive legal battle over who has the right to use it.

Is Australia a first to file trademark country?

Australia recognises first use rights. We still recommend that you do file a trade mark application in Australia, but you may still have rights at common law due to the earlier use of a trade mark even if unregistered.

Is Australia a first to file country?

Australia, like Canada, has a “first-to-file” patent system, where a patent is granted to the first person who files an application for an invention.

Should you trademark your business name or logo first?

For this reason, you should apply for both trademark registrations if you have a business name and a logo you wish to protect. Wordmarks and design marks represent two very different aspects of your brand. Protecting just your name may not sufficiently protect your logo from being used by someone else.

Do trademarks apply nationwide?

You establish rights in your trademark by using it, but those rights are limited, and they only apply to the geographic area in which you're providing your goods or services. If you want stronger, nationwide rights, you'll need to apply to register your trademark with us.

How do you know if a trademark is federal or state?

A state trademark registration protects the Mark, at most, within the borders of the state and does not protect the Mark in the rest of the United States. The owner of a federal registration may use the ® symbol. A state trademark registration does not convey the right to use the ®symbol.

Does a trademark cover all 50 states?

Federal trademarks give you ownership across all 50 states, plus all U.S. territories. Federal trademarks allow you to use the ® symbol. You can file infringement suits in federal courts. Your mark will be listed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database.

How do you violate a trademark?

Breaking Down The Elements. To prevail on a claim of trademark infringement, a plaintiff must establish that it has a valid mark entitled to protection; and that the defendant used the same or a similar mark in commerce in connection with the sale or advertising of goods or services without the plaintiff's consent.

Can trademarks be reserved in advance?

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office allows you to reserve trademarks for up to three years by filing an "intent to use" (ITU) prior to filing your "actual use" form. Filing an ITU protects your name until you are able to provide examples of commercial use.

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hi I'm Andre mink of the founder of trademark factory the only firm in the world where licensed lawyers and trademark agents will help you trademark your brand's with a free comprehensive trademark search for single all-inclusive flat fee with a hundred percent money-back guarantee and today's question that I'm going to answer is what is conventional priority so conventional priority this really cool idea that allows you to file a trademark in one country and have a six month grace period during which you can jump ahead of everyone else who falls for the same trademark in other jurisdictions so this is how this works so let's say you're based in the US and let's say that you're filing your u.s. trademark on January the 5th ok let's say you're not filing in any other country so you filed your u.s. trademark on January the 5th and the USPTO and you're just using the brand so let's say there's somebody else that's called a mean Company Inc they file the same trademark in Canada in April so they're in Canada they're the first in line because you haven't filed in Canada and Canadian trademarks office does not know about you they don't care about you they don't care about your trademark and all they care about is what's been filed with them so but let's assume that you've been filed your canadian trademark the same trademark only in Canada May 31st right so you're the second online in Canada but your application will say and of course I'm paraphrasing it's going to say something like don't think about this as our May 30th application think about this as our January 5th applicant because that's when we filed the identical trademark in the US and then the Canadian Trademark Office is going to look at your application and have a look at that doesn't say oh actually what that means is that mean company's trademark that they father April is now not the first in line it's actually the second in line so we should kick it out and give way to your trademark application so what this is called conventional priority because this six months grace period was invented and written into Paris Convention which is a trademark treaty international trademark treaty joined by most countries on the planet and Canada is part of that he was part of that and like said most countries are a part of that so that allows you to do is get some flexibility when you have six months to test your business to try it out to make sure that you're getting traction to give yourself a little bit more cash flow flexibility so that when the six months window is about to shut down then you can file your trademark and all the other jurisdictions that you want to protect your brand so if you know that your business is going to go think if you know that your brand has value those jurisdictions you don't have to wait and we recommend that you don't wait but if you you're not sure but you're thinking that it could be a good idea to protect it in both countries what you can do is start with your own country and then add other countries within the six-month window this is just one of many short videos where I'm providing one point short specific no BS answers to your questions about trademarks so subscribe now and make sure that you're the first to get notified whenever the next video goes live and if you have a brand that you want to protect order your free comprehensive trademark search with register ability opinion by filling out the form at 3tm search.com free TM start calm and we'll take you from there see you in the next video

Thanks for your comment Suzanne Kuning, have a nice day.
- Florentino Koppelmann, Staff Member

if you're an entrepreneur trying to grow your business and if you haven't trademarked your brand there's one thing you need to know without a file trademark application you're wasting your time money and energy building a brand that you can either never own or that someone can take away from you at any time if someone had already trademarked a brand similar to the one you have in mind you're essentially building someone else's brand just a matter of time before they notice you and force you to rebrand and pay them every dime you made under what turns out to be their brand or even more or you may be lucky and your brand is still trademarkable today but guess what this doesn't mean it will be available tomorrow thousands of trademark applications are filed every day any one of these trademark applications could easily crush your hopes for your brand's future what's worse is that literally every single day you pass up on protecting your brand you expose yourself and your business to more and more of these risks but of course if you don't believe you can build a truly successful business i'll be the first to tell you you don't need to trademark your brand not now not ever after all a brand with no potential to help people find your business help them remember your offer so that they come back or encourage them to buy from you is not worth trademarking but if that's the case you should take it one step further and ask yourself why have a brand like this at all assuming that's not you assuming that you value your brand or what you hope to make of it in the future let me give you five reasons why trademarking your brand should be your number one priority as a business owner number one trademarking takes a long time on average it will take over a year for your trademark to go through all stages from filing to registration it means that if you think you might need a trademark in six months you're already half a year too late number two there are no other legal ways to protect your brand incorporating your company registering an llc registering a domain name a bunch of social media profiles copyrighting your logo putting a tm sign next to your name none of this will protect your brand it's common sense freely if it was possible to securely protect your brand without trademarks companies and entrepreneurs like you wouldn't be filing millions of trademarks every single year it's not that they don't know about the tm symbol and corporations or domain names it's precisely because they know that none of it works that they file their trademarks number three if someone files a trademark application to protect a brand similar to yours even one day before you do you may be forced to rebrand notice that i said similar their brand doesn't even need to be the same as yours also notice that i said that even if they filed their trademark a day before you could be toast they don't even need to have it registered you know with real estate they always say location location location well with trademarks it's timing timing timing whoever does it first wins number four if you're considering selling licensing franchising or expanding your business forget about it if you don't have your brand trademarked at best someone's going to grab your company for pennies on a dollar because your valuation is going to take a massive hit in many cases you will not be able to find investors franchisees licensees or buyers for your business at all and again remember the trademarking process takes a year on average number five if you have a registered trademark you can quickly and effectively deal with infringement of your brand on online platforms like amazon youtube facebook and pretty much all others all you need to do is provide them with the number of trademark registration certificate give them a link that shows infringing use and they'll take care of everything on your behalf but this only works for trademarks that are already registered so if you care about your online reputation and in today's world everyone should getting your brand trademarked is no longer optional it's no longer something you can't afford to think about it's a must-have now one last thing don't think that i'm saying all this because i'm in the business of selling trademarking services trust me if you choose not to trademark your brand through trademark factory i'll still be okay with over 700 000 trademarks filed in the us alone in 2020 there are enough brand owners out there who value their brands enough business owners who want to get their trademarks done right on the other hand if someone snatches your brand from under your nose how would you feel knowing you could have trademarked it today but chose not to do it what will you do when you wake up one day to a demand letter claiming you don't own what you thought was your brand a brand you pour your heart and soul into a brand you've invested time money and energy in my name is andre minkoff i'm the founder of trademark factory i've been working in the field of intellectual property for over 20 years and i've heard too many heartbreaking stories like that over my career don't become part of the sad statistic jump on the trademarking train today factory you

Thanks Marcus your participation is very much appreciated
- Florentino Koppelmann

About the author

Florentino Koppelmann

I've studied business administration at Meharry Medical College in Nashville and I am an expert in ecology (outline). I usually feel guilty. My previous job was coatroom and dressing room attendants I held this position for 8 years, I love talking about softball and fish keeping. Huge fan of TikTok I practice cycling: road and collect disney pin trading.