A Brief Look At Registering Your Business Trademark

In the United States, you will want to register a trademark with the PTO (the United States Patent and Trademark Office - USPTO).

In Australia, the government body responsible for trademark and patent registrations is IP Australia (www.ipaustralia.gov.au).

In Canada, you will need to submit your application to CIPO - The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO website).

In Great Britain, the agency dealing with patents and trademarks is the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO).

For all other countries, go to your favorite search engine and do a search for "trademark office in insert country name here".

The PTO is responsible for registering patents and trademarks. They are also the ones who copyright trademarks and patents. They will also be responsible in patenting new inventions as well as copyrighting architectural designs and other documents.

You may wonder why is it important that you should go through this lengthy process when you want to start your own business. First of all, a trademark is a seal of your business to let people know that the product they are purchasing came from your company. The trademark is very important. Just think about it. When you are shopping for a particular brand of shirt or a pair of shoes, you look for a trademark to determine who manufactured it. You look at a trademark to determine the quality of the product you are considering purchasing.

You can file your trademark in the PTO yourself, but you can also hire a patent and trademark attorney to guide you through the rest of the process. The first process for registering your trademark is by filing an application form with the PTO. The PTO will be the ones who will be responsible for federal registration of trademarks. After you have submitted the application, the PTO will review it and determine if your application for trademark registration meets the requirements for receiving a filing date.

If your application for trademark registration has all the minimum requirements set by the PTO, they will assign a serial number to it and will send you the receipt about two months after filing your trademark registration. However, if the minimum requirements are not met, you will receive everything by mail. It will even include the returned filing fee.

After four months from filing your application, the next step is getting your application reviewed by an attorney employed by the PTO. They will determine if the trademark you are trying to get registered has already been registered or has similarities to other kinds of trademark that have been submitted or are already marked as being approved and registered. If the trademark is determined by the examining attorney that the trademark you are trying to get registered is unacceptable, the attorney will contact you by telephone and by mail and tell you the reasons for rejection and about the corrections required that you should do with the trademark in order for the office to reconsider approving it.

You must respond within six months after you received the letter of rejection or your application for registration of your trademark will be abandoned. However, if you did respond but didn’t solve any of the objections or the reasons for refusal, the examining attorney will then send you a final refusal letter and will also contact you by phone. You should comply with the objections. You can also appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in order for you to get the trademark approved for registration.

The most common ground for refusal is the similarities between the trademark you are trying to register and a trademark that has already been registered. If this is the case, you should try and alter your trademark so that it doesn’t look like a trademark that has already been registered. It should be unique and bear little or no similarities to a registered trademark.

These are the basic processes for registering a trademark. So, if you plan on starting your own business, you should first think about the trademark you are going to use. Be sure that it is unique and bears no similarities to an already registered trademark.

A Trademark Guide for Entrepreneurs - A Trademark Guide for Entrepreneurs provides the information business executives need to know about protecting their most valuable assets - their trade names, trademarks and service marks. In easy-to-follow language, Robert E. Lee explains how to register trademarks and trade names with both state and federal offices, police the marketplace for possible infringers and successfully exploit the marks through assignments, licenses, franchises and joint ventures. Most importantly, A Trademark Guide for Entrepreneurs teaches the corporate officer, director or manager how to select and use effective trademarks that will stand out in over-crowded market areas, thereby increasing market share and profit potential.

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How to Register Your Own Trademark: With Forms Author: Warda, Mark. Number of Pages: 248. Published On: 2004/05/01. Language: ENGLISH. While nearly everyone has created some work that deserves copyright protection, few people know the process for registering and protecting their products or ideas. Similarly, a trademark that has been registered accurately is the most valuable asset a company can have. The information contained in this book makes it easy to register work and business trademarks accurately. Contents include: Addresses and phone numbers for easy registration in each state; Instructions for preparing the necessary forms; Explanations of the different types of registrations available for trademarks; Legal Reference / Law Profession. How to Register Your Own Trademark: With Forms

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