A Trademark Attorney Can Help You Select a Good Defensible Trademark
Consulting with a trademark attorney is the ideal way to secure your company's name and protect it against infringement. This should be the next step in your company's development as soon as your product has been developed, your finance plan and mission statement are solidified, and you're ready to open for business.
You will learn that trademarks are divided into four categories: descriptive, suggestive, fanciful and arbitrary, and range in strength of protection from weakest to strongest, in that order. A descriptive name (SUPER GLUE), assuming it is accepted in the first place, can rarely be defended until it has been associated with a product for at least five years. Fanciful (EXXON, KODAK) and arbitrary (APPLE, when used for computers, not fruit) are the most protectable, while suggestive (JAGUAR, PLAYBOY) names lie somewhere in the middle.
A reliable trademark registration lawyer will help you choose a name that is both available and unique; making sure it can be registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). A fifth category, generic (aspirin), cannot be registered as a trademark, although some very successful trademarks have become generic through wide usage and recognition. The latest example of this phenomenon is "Google", which went from trademark to verb in less than five years and has become impossible to protect from common usage.
The registration process has been simplified in recent years by the establishment of the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) which allows businesses to apply for trademarks online and for less money than the traditional methods require.
Once your trademark has been registered with USPTO, it is protected by law, but it is up to you, as the business owner, to protect it from usurpation. Constant vigilance is required, especially when one considers the growing power of the internet and social networks. A simple, although not foolproof way to indicate ownership is to place a (tm) or (r) next to the name. You may use the former anytime, but it is illegal to use the circled "R" before your trademark has been actually registered. If you do discover a violation, it is imperative that you contact a trademark infringement lawyer immediately to put a halt to the use of your mark.
A trademark attorney can also help you keep your rights intact, although they can be lost through improper licensing, abandonment or the above-mentioned generality; You can no longer claim your brand name as your property once it becomes a dictionary word. On the other hand, if your trademark does become that well-known, you probably won't care who uses it, as long as they spell it properly.
About the Author
Stephen Daniels is an acclaimed http://netbiz.com internet marketing strategist. For a professional intellectual property attorney in New York, he recommends http://www.tmlawworldwide.com . Their experience in both the U.S. and internationally has helped guide their courteous, honest services for businesses of any size.
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