In the United States of America your brand name rights are generated via use of your trade name. What that stands for is the second you take first step towards adopting your trademark, you receive what called “common law” rights. Good news is – you become a trademark owner! Later when we put in plain English that to my customers, plenty of them wonder “Why must I go through all that trouble to register a mark whether we by now acquire rights under the common law?” Excellent question! Simply, the rights can be reduced to the geographical location (your city, community, etc.) where you presently apply and use your trademark. The common law trademark is not protected outside that area. Chances are, sooner or later somebody else could take first step towards adopting the identical trademark or you would have to file suit against the “bad guys” to cease their trademark adoption, what is much simple whether you have a mark registration certificate. Or, even worse, somebody will obtain registration for the same trademark and you will be “padlocked” inside the area of the actual mark adoption. Whether later when that you decide to expend your market to an another area, you would most likely become breaching someone else’s trademark rights.
Therefore, national mark registration presents really substantial advantages, for example:
– You would get exclusive nationwide possession of the trademark. The U.S. Patent Trademark Office will withhold registration certificate to any trademarks that would determine confusingly similar to your mark.
– Your trademark will make an appearance in trademark search reports obtained by others, probably preventing other businesses from try to register the same
– The date when the application was filed is a date of first use of the trademark in commerce (that presents you nationwide priority as of this date, with exception to businesses who incorporated and filed a mark prior to you);
– Lowered grounds for challenging your registration certificate after that is 5 years old by different competitors which try to register as well as employ the similar trade name;
– The legal right to file a claim in federal court for trade name infringement;
– Recuperation of profits, damages and costs in a federal litigation action or the chance of triple damages as well as recovering your own lawyer fees;
– The legal right to demand the United States Customs to discontinue the import of goods bearing your infringing trademark;
– Availability of criminal penalties or triple damages in an action for copying the protected trademark;
– Your U.S registration may be incorporated as a ground for obtaining registration(s) in other countries;
– Your registration improves the chance of desisting use of an similar World Wide Web domain name;
– You may use the Trademark Registration “r” symbol.
As we can see, you must seriously think of applying for a national trademark registration certificate. Trademark system is self-controlling, which stands for that if you don’t step up to guard your brand name, no one else will. Obtaining a brand name registration is the first as well as really important move to guard your trademark legal rights.
Feel free to go to http://www.ownyourtrademark.com to learn more about brand names.