Trademark Registration - An Overview Of The Process

By Business Editor

If you want to start your own business, you may want to think about the design of your trademark symbol or logo ...

When people think of starting their own business, they usually think about the capital required to start the business and the necessary business plans to present to the bank in order to obtain finance.

You need to consider that it is also important for a business to have a trademark symbol in order for consumers to identify their products. If you want to start your own business, you may want to think about the design of your trademark symbol or logo. The symbol or logo should be unique and should be easily remembered by consumers.

However, just thinking about and designing your trademark, then applying it to your products and business logo is not enough. It is important to also register your trademark. By registering your business trademark, your company will have exclusive rights for the use of the trademark. This makes it illegal for other companies to copy your trademark symbol and place it in their products without the authorization of your company.

Trademark registrations are done through the United States Patent and Trademark Office or the USPTO. The Patent and Trademark Office is responsible for registering trademark and is also responsible for granting exclusive rights for a company to use their trademark symbol. The Patent and Trademark Office is also responsible for patenting new inventions and copyrighting works of art and engineering designs.

The Patent and Trademark Office is also responsible for actively implementing intellectual property law.

The first step in trademark registration application is by filing for it with the Patent and Trademark Office. Once your application is received by the Patent and Trademark Office, it will review your application and determine if it meets all of their stringent minimum requirements. If not, all the documents you mailed, including your application and the fee will be returned to you. However, if the filing meets the minimum requirements and is approved by the Patent and Trademark Office, they will assign a serial number on it and send you a receipt about two months after filing it.

This, however, is not the end of the process and you cannot use the trademark symbol yet. The next step in the registration process is the examination of the trademark symbol made by the Patent and Trademark Office's attorney. The attorney will search the database for registered trademarks and determine if the trademark symbol you are trying to register will be rejected or will be approved. Usually, the common grounds for rejection is that the trademark being examined bears similarities to trademarks already approved. You have to consider that it will be lengthy process considering all the trademark symbols existing today.

This is why you should make sure that your proposed trademark bears no similarities or resemblance to existing trademarks that have already been registered. You can do this by hiring your own patent and trademark lawyer or by searching for it yourself. However, it is recommended that you hire a lawyer because it can prove to be time consuming when you try and do the search for it yourself. The trademark lawyer you hire will be knowledgeable and will be responsible in all the different legalities concerning your trademark.

If your trademark symbol has been rejected, the Patent and Trademark Office will send you a letter and call you by phone and inform you about the grounds for rejection. You should overcome all the objections and have it reexamined by the lawyer again. You can do this by redesigning your trademark symbol.

These are the things you need to know when registering your trademark symbol. As you can see, it will take quite a while before you can actually legally use your trademark. If you want the process to go faster, you can consider hiring a trademark lawyer where they will prepare all the necessary documents and requirements. They will also do an examination of your trademark symbol and determine if you need to redesign your trademark or not.

Next article: A Brief Look At Trademark Law

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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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Patent Copyright and Trademark An Intellectual Property Desk Reference (8th Edition) (Paperback (Trade Paper))

Patent Copyright and Trademark An Intellectual Property Desk Reference (8th Edition) (Paperback (Trade Paper)) Patent Copyright and Trademark An Intellectual Property Desk Reference (8th Edition) (Paperback (Trade Paper))

Patent Copyright and Trademark An Intellectual Property Desk Reference (8th Edition)

Written for programmers, publishers, writers, musicians, inventors and others who need to understand the terminology of intellectual property law, this bestseller provides:

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For more information about Trademarking-related resources, see our Business resources section, subscribe to our Business Newsletter containing news, updates and insider tips, or go to more articles about Registering A Trademark.

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