What is Required to Register a Trademark?

A trademark lawyer at Gehres Law Group, P.C. can help you to determine if you can register a brand name, symbol, words, or phrase under U.S. trademark laws. If so, we will provide unmatched representation through the process of registering your trademark. There are certain legal requirements and limitations on what can be trademarked, so it is important to work within the rules to protect your company’s valuable intellectual property. 

What is Required to Register a Trademark?

Trademarks must be registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. To register your trademark, you must comply with the following requirements:

• The actual owner of the trademark must apply for registration. The owner could be an individual, a corporation, a partnership or another legal entity that is recognized under the law. The trademark’s owner is defined as the person who controls the services or the goods that are sold under the trademark.
• The application must contain information about the actual owner of the trademark. Information that must be submitted should include the type of entity as well as the entity’s citizenship status. Non-citizens are permitted to register trademarks.
• The owner must intend to use the trademark in commerce or must be utilizing the trademark in commerce. If the owner is already using the trademark and has placed it on commercial products or in ads for services, the owner should explain this use in his or her trademark application. If the owner is not yet using the trademark in commerce, the owner may file an intent to use application and must make a good faith statement of an intent to use the trademark in a commercial context. Once the trademark is in use, the owner will need to file a Statement of Use/ Amendment to Allege Use form in order to officially register the trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trade Office.
• The owner must submit a drawing of the trademark and, if the application for the trademark is based on actual use, should also submit a real-world example of how the trademark is being used in connection with goods or in connection with the provision of services. Submitting a mailed ad or a brochure using the trademark is considered an acceptable real-world example, or a valid “specimen,” of the trademark, but ornamental use of the trademark, such as its image on a tote bag or on a pen, is not typically considered to be an acceptable specimen unless documentation was included to show how the bag or pen were used in actual commerce. Submitting the specimen showing the trademark in use does not satisfy the requirement to submit a drawing of the trademark; a separate independent drawing must also be submitted along with the remainder of the trademark application.

The applicant must comply with strict rules regarding the timeline for filing forms and documentation with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Because of the strict deadlines, the Patent and Trademark Office recommends hiring an attorney before beginning the process of applying for a trademark.

Getting Help from A Trademark Lawyer

If you wish to protect your brand name or to protect any identifying symbol, service mark, words or phrases, you should reach out to a trademark lawyer as soon as possible. Gehres Law Group, P.C. will offer advice on whether your intellectual property can be trademarked and will assist you with the trademarking process so you can maximize your chances of the process going smoothly. To find out more about how our legal team can help you to secure trademark protection, give us a call at 858-964-2314 or contact us online today.

For additional information concerning benefits of obtaining trademark protection and considerations in choosing trademarks, click here and here.

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