Trademark Search & Trademark Registration

Virtually every single business has a name, symbol or logo that identifies it as the source of a particular type of service or product. The name, symbol or logo of a business is not only one of its very important assets, but also one of its very valuable assets. A trademark is something very worthy of protecting. The advantages of federal trademark registration are numerous. These include nationwide priority rights effective from the date of the filing of the application. It is evidence of your exclusive ownership rights of the mark. It can be recorded with the U.S. Customs Service to inhibit the importation of foreign goods containing your mark by third parties. Your trademark rights continue indefinitely as long as you neither abandon the mark nor permit it to lose its trademark significance by becoming a generic term. You must renew your registration periodically and you must also, within a specified time, file a declaration stating that the mark is still in use.

Obtaining a trademark is a two step process. First, your patent attorney does a search and then he or she renders an opinion as to whether or not the mark is registerable. There are two types of searches. One is a simple search of the records of the USPTO. It is fairly inexpensive. Another is a very comprehensive search of various public records, data bases and the like, as well as the records of the USPTO. It is considerably more expensive than the simple search, but it is much more beneficial for you. If your patent attorney's opinion is that the mark is registerable the next step is to file your Application for Registration. There are various procedures after that. For example, your Application for Registration could be contested. If everything goes well and if all problems are resolved in your favor, your trademark will be registered.

We recommend that you retain an experienced patent attorney to handle your trademark affairs. We also recommend that you have your patent attorney commission the more expensive comprehensive search made for you and upon which he or she can render an opinion as to whether or not your mark appears to be registerable.