How to Trademark
The process of how to trademark a slogan, logo, or name is a slightly expensive and detailed journey, but will enable you to use your trademark to distinguish your product or service from others. Here is a basic outline of how to go about receiving a trademark.
1. Understand the difference between a trademark and a registered trademark: You can use “TM” next to a product name as a kind of claim on it, but it offers you no protection from someone else using that same name unless you register it. You may want to consider this if you are in a limited market, as it doesn’t cost anything, but remember that anyone else can call their product the same and it won’t be original anymore.
2. Identify what you want to trademark with a unique name, slogan or logo. Generic names, like a descriptive word or phrase or first/last name, cannot be trademarked, but a combination of these or a unique slogan can be.
3. Write a description of what goods or services will be connected with this name, logo, or slogan. You may also want to consider what level of trademarking you are looking for. Common law is just that, where you use TM near your name but have no real protection. You can apply for a state trademark, which will protect you within the state you file in, or a federal trademark, which covers you nationwide.
4. You may want to look through the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) connected with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to make sure your trademark idea is not already used by someone else. You can search by names or logos, and while it may be time-consuming, it may save you money and headaches in the end.
5. Once you have everything ironed out, you might consider contacting a lawyer to help you with the filing process. As stated earlier, this is a slightly costly, fairly in-depth operation, and it may not be a bad idea to have some professional help.
6. If you do decide to file on your own, there are at least 2 methods you might use. You can call the USPTO and request a paper application, which will be sent to you, you fill out, and send back in. You can also file online with the USPTO’s Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS). You will have to fill out all the required information and upload any specific logo or design you want to file for. Either method comes with a fee, and must be paid at the time you apply. The online fee is actually cheaper than the paper fee right now. You can look up a table of the fees and any additional information at uspto.gov.
7. It can take months before you application is approved or denied. It can be denied for being inappropriate, deceiving, confusing to customers, using someones likeness without consent, or disparaging a person, place, or country, among others. It is within their discretion.
8. If your application is approved, you will receive a Certificate of Registration in the mail, which allows you to use your trademark with the goods or services you proposed.
Learning how to trademark your product or service may be a careful study, but it can also help prevent extra fees and waiting time. At the end of everything, though, you should be able to be proud to have something to call all your own.
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