Filing for a Trademark

Trademarks are specific symbols, designs, sayings, words or colors generally associated with a particular product, service or company. Registering your trademark is a simple matter of contacting the USPTO.

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A trademark is a symbol that is recognized as belonging with (or to) a particular product, service or company. A trademark can include a myriad of distinctions. There can be letters, numbers, words or phrases that are official trademarks. Some companies and products have symbols, specific colors or patterns as their trademarks. Trademarks are often clever and catchy enough to be the target of theft – that’s the reason for registering trademarks.

Trademarks can be protected under U.S. law as well as under some state and jurisdictional laws. State laws governing the protection of trademarks varies and you must be familiar with the laws in your state if you plan to rely on those laws for protection of your trademark. Arguably the most common way to file for a trademark is through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Once you file for a U.S. trademark, an examiner will determine if the mark is truly original and that no one else has already laid claim to it. If you are turned down, you have the right to an appeal. Once you have a registered trademark, the mark will be entered into a national catalogue of trademarks.

There is a fee for filing trademarks, but beware of any company that offers to file for you for a fee. Anyone has the right to file a trademark for themselves and the paperwork involved is not complicated. You could be paying an unnecessary fee and unless you know the history of the company, you could be compromising your original trademark. Until you have the design, slogan or symbol registered, it is susceptible to theft.