 |
 |
Over 500,000
satisfied customers |
|
World-class customer
service |
|
100% Satisfaction
Guaranteed | |
|
Trademarks
There are four basic requirements for filing a trademark (or service mark) with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
- The mark must be filed under the actual owner’s name. The owner of the mark is the person who controls the nature and the quality of the goods sold or the services rendered under the mark. The owner does not have to be an individual. The owner can be a partnership, corporation or association. If the owner is a corporation, then the applicant's name is the company name.
- The applicant must specify what type of entity it is (individual, corporation, etc.) and its national citizenship. The applicant is not required to have U.S. citizenship.
- The application must be based on actual use or a real intent to use the mark in business.
- For applications based on actual use, the applicant should indicate what products he or she has actually placed the mark on and sold for business. A mark for services will be considered “actual use” when it is used or displayed in the sale or advertising of services and the services are actually rendered.
- If you are filing an intent-to-use application, it is sufficient that you make a statement in good faith that you plan to use the mark in commerce. However, you will have to actually use the mark before it can be registered. The USPTO will issue a Notice of Allowance, which gives you six months to either use the mark in commerce or file for an extension. Once you file the Statement of Use, the USPTO will issue the registration certificate.
- You must submit a drawing of the mark and a specimen of the mark when the application is based on actual use. A specimen is a real-world example of how the mark is actually used on the goods or in a service. Labels, tags, or containers for the goods are considered to be acceptable specimens of use for a trademark. For a service mark, specimens may be advertising, such as magazine ads or brochures. Actual specimens, rather than facsimiles, are preferred. However, if the actual specimens are bulky, or larger than 8½" x 11", then the applicant must submit facsimiles, (e.g., photographs or good photocopies) of the specimens.
A drawing is a page that depicts the mark you seek to register. In an application based on actual use, the drawing must show the mark as it is actually used (i.e., as shown by the specimens). For applications based on a real intention to use, the drawing must show the mark as the applicant intends to use it. A drawing is necessary even when a specimen is submitted.
|
|
| |
LegalZoom Newsletter
Sign up for our free monthly newsletter and receive periodic special offers.
|
|
Choose Another Document
|
|
|
|