A trademark protects specific, unique name, logo, and symbols pertaining to your products or business brand.

Trademark protection may apply to business names, symbols, logos, sounds, and even colors that are emblematic of one specific brand. Once registered, a registrant can typically start using the ® symbol after the name, logo or slogan.

When you register your trademark, you get strong nationwide protection, and the right to file a federal lawsuit against anyone who copies it.

Any person that claims to be a proprietor of a mark or is proposing to own the idea can apply for trademark registration. The application should clearly state the trademark, the services or goods, the address and name of the application and the period of use of the mark with a signature.

Once you have a product or service and think you have a name for it, how do you know you can use it as your own? What happens if you unintentionally use a registered trademark name?

Too many people use a name without knowing whether or not they have the legal right to do so. They organize massive marketing campaigns with names they later find they’re not allowed to use. Performing a trademark search before deciding which trademark to register is a wise thing to do, especially when you consider future risks of litigation.

It is a good idea to carry out some research before starting to do business with a trademark. It may not be in your best interest to use a mark if another company is already actively conducting business in the same class. The other company may object to you using the trademark and legally prohibit you from doing so.

The average time frame for the trademark registration approval in the U.S. is 6 to 10 months, if no objections or oppositions arise.

The USPTO will review your application within a few months, and then either send an Office action with questions or concerns, or approve your trademark for publication. If published and there are no objections by the public within 30 days, your mark is officially registered.

If you're not yet using your mark in commerce, it can take longer. After making it through the previous steps, the USPTO will grant a Notice of Allowance—which says they'll register your mark once you provide proof of use in commerce through a Statement of Use. Once that's submitted and approved, your mark is officially registered.

The trademark is not universal.

If only a Chinese trademark is registered, it can only enjoy the exclusive right of trademark in China. The registered trademark applied for at home cannot be used abroad, and the exclusive right of trademark registration has regional protection. Where a natural person, legal person or other organization, in the course of production and business operation, needs to obtain the exclusive right to use a trademark for its goods or services, it shall apply to the Trademark Office for trademark registration. An application for registration of a malicious trademark not intended for use shall be rejected.

It is possible to amend an application, but the process and the associated fees generally depend on the timing of the changes. Changes before the trademark has been published in the Official Gazette can be made by logging into your Trademark Engine account and requesting that a change be made. Additional fees to Trademark Engine and filing fees to the USPTO may apply.

Changes once the trademark has been published in the Official Gazette generally require a Post-Publication Amendment, which Trademark Engine can assist with.

Depending on the scope of the amendment, an applicant may need to file a new application instead. For example, amendments that broaden the scope of a description or add international categories may require additional fees and may require a new application. Clerical errors, on the other hand, are generally easy to fix and typically won’t affect the applicant’s place in line or require a new application.

Since the USPTO is a federal institution, a registered trademark in the USA grants protection in all 50 member states, as well as the American Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and Puerto Rico. However, a registered U.S. trademark does not prevent third parties from being able to register the trademark in Puerto Rico. For this reason, if you are planning of enforcing your trademark rights in that territory, it is advisable to also file a local application there.

As the USA is a member country of the Madrid system, trademark protection in this country can also be obtained by applying for an extension of a local trademark registered in another Madrid system member country, through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). A trademark registered or filed in the USA can also be used as a basis to request its extension to other jurisdictions in the system.

The USA is a "first-to-use" jurisdictions, which means that the rights to a trademark are granted to the person or entity that first uses it in the territory of the USA. While this leads some to question whether they have to register their trademark, it is still highly advisable as it grants presumption of ownership, and is also necessary in case legal actions for trademark infringement need to be undertaken.

Registered trademarks in the USA offer protection only for the trademark exactly as filed. Therefore, if your trademark contains both words and figurative elements, it is advisable to file separate applications for the wordmark on the one hand and the logo on the other hand, in order to achieve optimal protection.

In the USA, when filing a logo application is it necessary to decide whether or not to claim the colors of the trademark. While this does not affect the costs of registration, it has an impact on the scope of protection granted by the trademark registration.

In order to file a trademark application in the USA, in addition to the trademark name, logo, classes and owner details, it is necessary to choose a filing basis between actual use, intent to use, and foreign registration. The USPTO requires a trademark to be in use in the USA in order to register it, which is why choosing the filing basis for a US trademark is very important as it will affect the registration process.

The documentation to be provided depends on the filing basis; for "intent to use" no documentation will be required at the time of the application, while in the case of "actual use" a specimen of use must be filed along with the trademark application. If the "foreign registration" filing basis applies, a scanned copy of the registration certificate in the country of origin must be provided, along with a translation into English if the original certificate is in another language.

Generally, it takes about 12 months for a trademark to be registered.After you file an application with the authority they will begin to review it in about 3 months. Further, they will publish your mark in the Official Gazette to see if anyone in public challenges the mark or not. If no one challenges your mark within 30 days then your mark will get registered within 3 months.

1. Do not let anyone register your brand and start using it as their own. When they own the brand, they can even sue you!

2. Prevent others from damaging your hard won reputation. Make it easier for those who steal your trademark to be prosecuted.

3. Create a franchise and conquer foreign markets. Selling abroad is impossible without securing a trademark there first. Otherwise, it’s like leaving the door open for trouble.

4. Bring your business to a new level and make it more respectable. Owning an ® is a sign of success! What unites all Fortune 500 companies is that they all own a number of types of Intellectual Property. Trademarks are the very foundation of their success.

5. Protect your money from Patent trolls. There are a number of companies that want to steal your mark without any intention of using it and become a nuisance right when you think that things are going the right way.

1.You will get 10 years of protection.

2.There is no monthly or annual fee.

3.After 10 years, you do not have to go through the whole procedure once again. You just submit the request to renew the.

Before spending your time and money filing an application, you should do a search to see if your mark is already in use or registered by someone else. A search will help avoid obvious duplications of pre-existing marks. If the USPTO rejects your application, the fees to Trademark Engine and the USPTO are not refundable. If your company is just beginning, it’s better to make name changes now rather than invest in building a brand only to learn that you have to change the name and lose all of your goodwill. All services include a free, federal direct-hit search. We also offer more comprehensive searches that will include wider searches on the federal, state, common law, and global levels. Enjoy a better peace of mind while your trademark application is pending with the USPTO.