A trademark may be a name, a word, a phrase, a sign, a symbol, logo, design, image, or a combination of these elements that distinguishes your product from that of your competitors. A trademark identifies the source or origin of goods and distinguishes it from a competitor’s product.

More than one trademark may be used to identify the origin or source of goods or services. For example, Coca-Cola® , Coke® and It’s the Real Thing® are registered trademarks of the Coca Cola Company and are used to identify the Coca Cola beverage.

A trademark represents the goodwill of a product or service. The owner of the trademark has a right to prevent others from using the same or a confusingly similar work for that class of goods or services.

When a trademark is used in association with services of a product and not goods, the mark is a service mark.

A trade dress refers to the visual appearance of the product - its packaging or image. It does not refer to words, logos, etc. A trade dress may also be protected under the Lanham Act.

A certification mark is a word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce with the owner’s permission by someone other than its owner, to certify regional or other geographic origin, material, mode of manufacture, quality, accuracy, or other characteristics of someone's goods or services, or that the work or labor on the goods or services was performed by members of a union or other organization.

A generic mark cannot be protected because it describes a group of goods and services and cannot be distinguished from one or the other. Marks such Xerox, Q-tips etc., have already become generic.

You can acquire a trademark by simply using it. However, you acquire the exclusive right to use your trademark by registering it. Trademark rights accrue by first use, not by first registration.

A generic mark cannot be protected because it describes a group of goods and services and cannot be distinguished from one or the other. Marks such Xerox, Q-tips etc., have already become generic.

Registration of a mark allows the owner the exclusive right to use the mark throughout the United States on the goods or services associated with the mark. This means that the owner of the mark has a better chance to prevail in a suit for infringement of the mark against a mark that is not registered. Also, a registered trademark is readily identified in a trademark search which decreases the chances of the selection and use of the mark by another entity. Furthermore, the symbol ® may only be used on goods or services that are federally registered. In addition, after 5 years of continuous use of a federally registered mark, the mark becomes “incontestable” which limits an attack to the invalidity of the mark by a third party.

The certificate of registration is for an initial term of 10 years. There is the possibility that this registration may lapse before the ten-year period expires, unless the owner files a statement within six years of the registration date (called a Section 8 Affidavit) stating that the mark is still in use in commerce. The original registration may be renewed indefinitely for additional ten-year periods if the owner files the required renewal applications (called a Section 9 Affidavit) with the prescribed fee with the U.S.PTO. The failure to renew a registration will not cancel all the rights of the owner, only the special rights pertaining to the federal registration of a mark.

Once the application has been filed in the U.S.PTO, the application will be assigned to an examiner in approximately 4 -5 months. However, the critical date for determining registrability is your filing date, NOT the actual examination date. The overall process, from the time of initial filing to final registration, can take 13-18 months and even longer depending on many factors, e.g., the correctness of the original filing, or the type of application filed.

The U.S.PTO charges a filing fee of $375 per class of goods and services chosen for paper applications and a fee for $275 per class for electronic filing of the application. IP Procure files most applications electronically.

If the mark was filed under intent to use the mark, 6 months after issue date of the Notice Of Allowance of mark, a Statement Of Use, or if the mark is not yet being used in commerce, A Request For Extension Of Time must be filed. If a Request For Extension is filed, a new Request For Extension must be filed every six months until the statement of use is filed. You can file a total of five extension requests. Failure to file the required document during this period will result in abandonment of the application.

A trademark remains in effect as long as the following declaration and maintenance fees is paid i.e. between the 5th and 6th year from date of registration of the mark, a Declaration Of Continued Use has to be filed with a fee of $100/class; and thereafter every 10 years (between the 9th and 10 th year, 19 th and 20 th year, etc.) a Combined Declaration Of Continued Use With Section 8 Renewal has to be fled with a renewal fee of $500/class. Also, a Declaration of Incontestability with a fee of $200 may be optionally filed between the 5th and 6th year after registration under Section 15 if the mark has been in continuous use for 5 years after registration with no known pending litigation against the mark in any State or Federal court or TTAB (Trademark Trial & Appeal Board).