How To Trademark A Logo

Table Of Content

• The application and registration
• Trademark application
• Step Four: Monitor the Design Application and Respond Quickly to any Office Action
• Maintaining and Protecting Your Trademark
• Do you need to add ®, ™ or SM after your goods or services?
• Misunderstanding the Scope of Protection
• Global Branding: Beyond Borders

Logos need to be easily understood and simple enough for people to grasp. The history and future of the foundation of your brand come to life visually with your logo. The logo registration allows you the right to stop foreign goods that have your logo from being imported into the country. Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page.

The application and registration

Working to resolve office actions quickly will help move your application towards registration approval. When brainstorming logo ideas, focus on developing a recognisable and unique look. Instead, be creative and craft a meaningful symbol for your brand that makes a strong visual impact. Aim for a design that customers will remember and that you can legally protect as your intellectual property. With a distinctive and original logo, you will be off to a strong start in building your brand image.

Trademark application

If you’re missing any basic filing requirements, the agency will notify you. If there are any minor issues with your application, you might receive a call or email. But if there is a more involved concern, you’ll probably receive a letter called an Office Action that outlines the reasons your application was denied.

Step Four: Monitor the Design Application and Respond Quickly to any Office Action

In an infringement lawsuit, there must be a likelihood of confusion, meaning the mark is used in connection with the same goods like computer technology, let’s say. The rules change slightly if you offer a service (it’s even easier!). All you need to supply is materials used to advertise your business.

However, there are a few circumstances when another party may use your intellectual property without permission. In the United States, these exceptions are covered in the Fair Use Doctrine. In short, the difference between these three types of protection comes down to the type of material that you’re trying to legally safeguard against unauthorized use.

Do you need to add ®, ™ or SM after your goods or services?

Design Patent: Definition, How It Works, Examples - Investopedia

Design Patent: Definition, How It Works, Examples.

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Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site. If your search of supermarket designs returns too many results to review, you may want to limit the search to include designs of “human beings.” You could use design search code 02.01 and leave off the section code. You could also limit by coordinated classes of your goods or services.

An idea will remain an idea until and unless it is not transformed into something that has monetary value. Once the idea is converted into a human creation, i.e. product, design, or any artistic work, it becomes intellectual property. A sign, invoice, stationery or screenshots of a website where you offer your services are all acceptable specimens in this category, so long as the wording beside your logo clarifies the nature of your business. If your response does not overcome all objections, the examining attorney will issue a final refusal office action.

Global Branding: Beyond Borders

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G-Shock Watch Granted 3-D Trademark for Iconic Shape.

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If you are a service provider, however, the rules for a specimen are a bit more relaxed. Unlike for goods, materials used to advertise your company or in the course of daily business will suffice. Such items need only show a “direct association” between your logo and the services you offer and explain the nature of those services. This being said, not only does the USPTO attempt to avoid any mixups among logos and brands, but it also denies any applications whose contents it finds offensive.

Why is Trademarking a Logo Important?

A critical requirement of applying for a design mark is that the applicant’s use of the mark must exactly match the drawing as initially filed. For example, if the applied-for mark shows a graphic of an object (e.g., tree) to the left of certain wording, then the specimens of use must also show the tree in exact same position. You cannot move graphic design elements or wording around and expect approval of your examples of use. If a certain font was shown in the initial application, that same font must be used.

This protects your rights within that state, so the logo cannot be copied by brands in other states. It is solely at the discretion of the examining attorney whether your logo will be registered. If the issues with your application are minor, you may receive a call or email.

Design Patent Money-Back GuaranteeGet your design patent allowed or attorney's fees refunded. If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request a reasonable accommodation, please submit your request to the contact information above. After receiving an Office Action letter, you have 6 months from the date of mailing to make the corrections. If your submission is denied yet again, you’ll be issued a final refusal of your application.

You can sue if your mark is well-known and any other use of it will weaken the mark’s reputation. It takes anywhere from 6 months to one year to receive the final decision. The product specimen must present evidence of a transaction between you and your customer. So when I say you’ll need to describe the good or service, I mean really get into detail. The USPTO has 45 different classes that your good or service might fall under. For example, one category includes precious metals such as jewelry; another incorporates musical instruments.

There are benefits of using a lawyer, one of them being they are savvy investigators. A lawyer can determine quite easily if your logo or business name belongs to someone else, as well as help get your application approved. To make matters more complicated, an artist stepped forward claiming both authorship and ownership of the smiley face, which he says was originally created as a favor to Nirvana in 1991, and claims he is the rightful owner. So let’s say you use a logo for your candle business to distinguish yourself from all the others in the candle market. If someone wants to use a similar logo for a lawn care business, you can’t stop them from using it. When somebody uses your intellectual property without consent, that is known as infringement.