Federal Trademarks: Protecting Your Business Name, Logo, Products or Services

A trademark is a brand name.  A trademark or service mark includes any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used or intended to be used to identify and distinguish the goods/services of one seller or provider from those of others, and to indicate the source of the goods/services.  Although federal registration of a mark is not mandatory, it has several advantages, including notice to the public of the registrant’s claim of ownership of the mark, legal presumption of ownership nationwide, and exclusive right to use the mark on or in connection with the goods/services listed in the registration. Federally registered trademarks are national in scope, regardless of the actual geographic use made by the mark.

Advantages To Having a Federally Registered Trademark

Additional substantive benefits received through federal registration include, but are not limited to:

• The ability to recover profits, damages and costs for infringement, including the possibility of receiving treble damages in certain circumstances;
• The ability to recover attorneys’ fees in infringement actions;
• The right to use the ® symbol in connection with the mark, which may deter potential infringers;
• Federal registration also makes it easier to prove an allegation of trademark infringement by providing prima facie evidence of trademark ownership and use.

The law firm of Seth T. Seidell provides federal trademark legal services at reasonable and affordable fixed rates.

Source:            www.uspto.gov.