1. What is a trademark?

2. What is a service mark?
3. When can I register my trademark?
4. Can the trademark office refuse to register a trademark?
5. When can I use the Federal Registration Symbol ®?
6. Should I use “TM” or “SM” next to my mark?
7. How long does it take for a mark to be registered?
8. How long does a trademark registration last?

1. What is a trademark?

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and distinguishes the source of goods of one party from those of others.

2. What is a service mark?

A service mark is the same as a trademark except it identifies the source of a service.

3. When can I register my trademark?

A mark is eligible for federal registration after the mark has been used in interstate commerce, i.e. after the mark has been used between two states, in multiple states, or between the United States and a foreign country.

If the mark has not been used in interstate commerce, you may apply to register the mark based upon an intention to use the mark in commerce. If the application is based on intent to use, actual use must be shown within six months after approval. Extensions of time may be available to show actual use.

If the mark is only to be used within one state, the mark may be eligible for state trademark registration.

4. Can the trademark office refuse to register a trademark?

The trademark office may refuse registration for several reasons. Some reasons include the following:

·         Ø      The mark includes immoral, deceptive or scandalous matter.

Ø  The mark comprises a name, portrait or signature identifying a particular living individual (except that by that individual’s written consent).

Ø  The proposed mark resembles a mark already registered in the Patent and Trademark Office so that use of the mark would likely cause confusion, mistake or deception.

Ø  The mark is merely descriptive or deceptively misdescriptive of the applicant’s goods or services.

Ø  The mark is primarily geographically descriptive or deceptively geographically misdescriptive of the applicant’s goods or services.

Ø  The mark is merely a surname.

Ø  The mark as a whole is functional.

Ø  The mark is generic.

5. When can I use the Federal Registration Symbol ®?

The federal registration symbol ® may be used after the mark is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The registration symbol may not be used during pendency of the application.

6. Should I use “TM” or “SM” next to my mark?

These designations indicate that a party claims rights in the mark and may be used in the absence of federal registration. If an application for the mark is pending before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, you may consider identifying the mark with the “TM" of “SM” designation.

7. How long does it take for a mark to be registered?

Although there are no guarantees, generally, the examination process takes about six months.

8. How long does a trademark registration last?

Rights in a federally registered trademark can last indefinitely if the owner continues to use the mark and files the necessary documentation at the appropriate times. The applicant must file Affidavits of Continued Use or Excusable Nonuse as well as applications for renewal at the appropriate times.

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Trademarks - Origins
The use of trademarks as a mark of origin is very ancient, though their purpose has changed significantly over the last century. Even in ancient cultures it was common for makers of such artefacts as brick, leather, books, weapons, etc., to affix a trademark as a mark of origin to their goods. Such marks were normally letters or symbols stamped on the goods to signify the maker of the product. Their purpose was predominantly to create a relationship between the goods and their maker. This particular aspect is one feature that is still valid in modern trademark law. The English term "brand" is synonymous with the term "trademark", and is a reflection of this early usage of marks ("brand" being the familiar practice by farmers of marking cattle with hot irons).

Marks gained importance in the growing production of goods for export. Long before the industrial age metal goods made in England (weapons, cutlery, etc.) carried traditional signs of their English maker. The guilds, mainstays of economies in earlier centuries, often required their members - as master craftsmen - to affix marks to their products as a means of controlling their production.

However, during the last century trademarks began to assume a significant additional role. Mass production, a more complicated system of distribution of goods from the producer to the buyer, the growing trade in goods, all generated the need for a universally applicable identification of goods, i.e. the goods had to be given a name that was identifiable with the particular maker, rather than a name that simply stated what the goods were.

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What is a Trademark?

A Trademark is the means by which a business makes itself visible in the marketplace. A Trademark can be any distinctive (not solely descriptive) name or logo. The best Trademarks are instantly recognizable and conjure up in the minds of existing or potential customers things like quality, dependability, or at the very least the source of the goods or services being bought.

A trademark is often defined as: “a word, name, symbol or device that is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others”.A service mark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The terms "trademark" and "mark" are commonly used to refer to both trademarks and service marks.

Trademarks provide their owners with the legal right to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark. They cannot be used stop competitors from making the same goods or from selling the same goods or services under a clearly different mark.

Examples of well-known Trademarks are: 

Coca-Cola, 

Rolls-Royce, 

The Apple logo and 

the Nike “swoosh”

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