It’s been an exciting week at Trust Tree. Ashley Monroe filmed a music video
upstairs that included throwing Molotov cocktails off the roof. Our Director of
Accounting (and Barbeque), George, is going to be making his famous pork
tenderloins for lunch today. And we received a Certificate of Registration for
our logo from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO):
When you receive
a federal trademark registration, there are 6 things you should do:
1. Docket deadlines
To maintain
rights in the registration, the following documents must be filed with the
USPTO at specified times:
·
A Declaration of
Continued Use or Excusable Nonuse must be filed on or between the fifth
anniversary of registration and the sixth anniversary of registration; and
·
A Declaration of
Continued Use or Excusable Nonuse and an Application for Renewal must be filed
on or between the ninth anniversary of registration and tenth anniversary of
registration and during the last year of every ten-year period thereafter.
Failure to file these documents will result in cancellation of the
registration. Trademark lawyers (like us) can help you keep track of these deadlines.
2. Use the federal trademark registration symbol
A notice of
registration should be displayed with the trademark whenever it is used in
connection with the goods or services recited in the registration. This notice
may take the form of the words “Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office” or “Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.” or ®. Failure to provide notice
could limit the recovery of damages for trademark violations.
3. Watch out for scammers
Private companies not associated with the USPTO often use trademark
registration information from the USPTO’s database to mail or email
trademark-related solicitations. These private companies use names that
resemble the USPTO name, including, for example, the terms “United States,”
“U.S.,” “Trademark,” “Patent,” “Registration,” “Office,” or “Agency.” Their
solicitations often mimic the look of official government documents and require
“fees” to be paid. These solicitations are scams
and have no connection with the USPTO.
4. Watch out for infringers
To preserve your trademark rights, having a registration is not enough.
Failure to adequately police the use of a mark can lead to abandonment of the
mark. One way to police a mark is to use a watch service to identify
potentially conflicting marks. Trademark lawyers (like us) can help you set up a watch service that is tailored to your needs.
5. Record your trademark with U.S. Customs & Border Protection
Federal trademark registrations are eligible for recordation with U.S. Customs &
Border Protection (CBP). Recorded
trademarks are added to a database that the CBP uses to prevent the importation
of goods that infringe registered trademarks.
Trademarks are
recorded for a term of 20 years. There is a government filing fee of $190 per
international class of goods. We charge an additional $200 to help clients
record their trademarks with CBP.
6. Consider foreign trademark protection
If you do business
abroad, you can use your U.S. registration as a basis to obtain a registration
in foreign countries—for example, under the Madrid Protocol.
The authors at The
Root founded Trust
Tree to provide
low-cost, high-quality trademark services in the most convenient way possible.
Through our website at TrustTreeTrademarks.com, we offer federal trademark application packages from $149 for experienced
trademark filers to $949 for customers who want the entire filing process done
for them. To see a full list of Trust Tree’s services, click here.
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