Trademarks

A company’s brand is one of its most important assets. A unique and distinct trade name can sets it apart from the competition. We work with our clients to provide counsel to ensure their marks are well selected and used correctly. We can assist in the selection of strong marks that will be distinctive and result in attaining a high level of legal protection. We can identify conflicting marks for our clients before there is a conflict to protect our clients’ rights in the United States and around the world.

We also assist our clients by providing strategies that maximize the value of their brand generally by assisting with their banding strategy. Almost every business, from artists and online retailers to technology companies can benefit from establishing a branding strategy that includes logos, trademarks, service marks, certification marks, and trade dress. Our attorneys will help guide you through each step along the way.

Why Register a Trademark?

Your trademark distinguishes your product and/or service from that of the competition. Once you have established a reputation for providing quality products and/or services, your trademark will ensure that customers and clients that are seeking your goods and/or services will be able to identify your and the goods and services that you provide and distinguish them from those provided by your competition. In a global economy in which manufacturing costs can be relatively low and in which online retailers can produce copycat products, it is important to be able to prevent illegal competition that violates your rights. By registering your trademark, you reduce the risk of losing market share to inferior knockoffs and to competitors that attempt to provide goods and/or services that may be confused with yours.

Trademark protection is available for words, phrases, symbols, designs, sounds, colors and a host of other distinguishing features. While there are benefits that can be derived from merely marking your products and/or services with a “TM”, there are significant additional benefits that come from federal registration of a trademark which provides the right to use ®. These benefits include the ability to prevent the registration of confusingly similar marks, and a streamlined enforcement mechanism with Amazon, eBay, and other online retailers. Furthermore, those that attempt to register their own marks will typically search the federal register prior to attempting their registration. By registering your mark, the likelihood that they will attempt to register a similar mark for use with similar goods and/or services is substantially reduced.

Principle vs Supplemental Trademark Registration

Trademarks can be registered on the Principle Register or the Supplemental Register. The Principle Trademark Register is for trademarks that are inherently distinctive or have acquired distinctiveness over time. However, marks that do not qualify for registration on the Principle Register can still qualify for registration on the Supplemental

Trademark Register, even if the mark is descriptive. Over time, such marks may acquire distinctiveness and qualify for registration on the Principle Register. The benefits of registration on the Principle Register are that there is a presumption that the mark is valid, a presumption that the registrant is the owner of the mark, a presumption that the registrant has the exclusive right to use the registered mark and such registration serves as a constructive notice of a claim of ownership, which can assist in enforcing a some of the rights afforded to the owner of a federally registered trademark.

Feel free to call us to discuss your particular needs with regard to your business.