When you’re at the initial level of doing business, you may want to Register a Trademark. You can use a unique mark, such as a word, phrase, symbol, or design, as your trademark. A trademark represents your company and distinguishes it from other companies in the market. Moreover, you may use the combination of a word, phrase, symbol, or design for making your trademark. The USPTO has issued guidelines to register a trademark. The USPTO can refuse to register your mark if you don’t follow the guidelines. Therefore, usually, businesses hire a trademark firm that may assist them in trademarking their marks. You may trademark your mark on your own. Nevertheless, we suggest you hire a trademark firm. In this article, we’re going to know whether it’s good to register a trademark or not.
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Do you need to register a trademark?
No, it is not necessary for a company to register its mark to get rights in the U.S. Without registering, you can get a few protectable rights on your unique mark. However, registering your mark gives you exclusive rights to use the trademark nationwide. The following are the benefits of owning afederal trademark registration.
- You have a right to use your trademark with your services or goods within the region covered by the trademark.
- Moreover, registering a trademark means that you have publicly disclosed that the trademark belongs to your company.
- Your trademark gets a place in the USPTO database where you can find registered marks.
- Moreover, you can use the ® symbol with your mark.
- You can file a lawsuit if someone infringes on your trademark rights.
- Most importantly, you can register your mark in other countries with the help of the USPTO registration.
Related Article: What is the new USPTO Trademark Rule?
How to register a trademark
In the previous section, we looked at the benefits of registering a trademark. Now, we must look at the next section – how to register a trademark. First of all, you should do a trademark search before filing. Also, you need to follow the guidelines issued by the USPTO to get a trademark. Moreover, you must include sufficient documents in your application. Therefore, you must furnish the following information to the USPTO.
- Your name and entity type,
- Your address,
- Your e-mail address,
- In case, if you have an attorney, then include attorney name and postal and e-mail addresses,
- Drawing of your trademark,
- Goods and/or services,
- And application filing fee for one class of goods or services
You can access the Trademark Electronic Application System 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Also, you need to submit your application online. Moreover, you are free to choose either option for filing: TEAS Plus and TEAS Standard.
TEAS Plus
You need to furnish detailed information on the mark, goods and services at the time of filing. However, you have to shell out $225 per class of goods or services for this filing option.
TEAS Standard
Slightly costlier than TEAS Plus, this option has the filing fee of $275 per class of goods or services. However, you needn’t provide the complete information of a trademark. You can get a trademark by providing minimum information.
However, besides filing by using TEAS, other options are available too. In rare situations, the USPTO may allow you to use other means of filing. However, you need to file a petition to use other means.
Related Article: How to Perform a Trademark Knockout Search?
The significance of the trademark symbols TM, SM, and ®
TM, SM, and ® are three different symbols. A company may use TM and SM symbols along with its unique mark for its goods and services respectively. When a business chooses a mark to be its trademark, it uses TM or SM symbol with it. These symbols mean that the company is going to register the mark.
For instance, an XYZ company uses the phrase “Life in the Fast Lane” as its unique mark. If the company wants to trademark the phrase in the future, it can use TM with the phrase.
Life in the Fast Lane TM
If the same company has a service “Make Your Home Better”. Moreover, the company is willing to trademark the mark. They can notify other businesses by using SM with the mark.
Make Your Home Better SM
In another case, if the company has registered a trademark, they may use ® symbol with the trademark.
Life in the Fast Lane ®
Related Article: Interesting Facts about Trademarks
What can TMReady offer you?
When you hire a third party to assist you in registering a trademark, you want the result from it. Moreover, you expect it to complete your task within the deadline with a satisfactory result. TMReady can fulfill your needs expeditiously. The company is a subsidiary of Sagacious IP and based out of the U.S. Moreover, it has clients from more than 45 countries. The company has been offering premium services for more than 10 years. We, at TMReady, have a team that has years of experience. If you have recently started a company, you may want to register a trademark.
TMReady offers various trademark services: searching, monitoring, international searching, and docketing and paralegal. Check out our services here – TMReady.
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