If you're starting a fresh business and want to clear the commercial waters for your exclusive use of its name, logo, slogan, color, sound and other identifying device, or you've a preexisting brand name that you've poured advertising dollars into already and want to make fully sure your investment is protected as much as possible, then you definitely will want to consider seeking federal registration of one's trademark(s). However, before simply throwing money at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) by applying to register your trademarks, and risk spending more hours and money later on, you'll want to do two things first.
No. 1: Run a fast preliminary search on your own, using the PTO's free TESS online database looking for any direct hits. You are seeking any matches of one's mark, but in particular for the areas of the mark that are not obviously descriptive of the great or service. For instance, if your business name is Star-Brite Florist, don't be worried about every match with the phrase "florist." This quick search can assist you to eliminate names right away that you might have wanted to trademark, if they are clearly already taken. https://trumarked.com/
No. 2: Whether you found worrying results or not out of this preliminary search, you'll want to find a skilled trademark attorney to judge the effectiveness of your mark on the basis of the legal standards of the mark's "inherent distinctiveness" or it having "acquired secondary meaning." Some marks just aren't worth registering since they are too weak.
No. 3: Once you and your trademark attorney decide it's worth considering registration further, the next phase is always to conduct an extensive search to see if the mark or even a similar mark is registered or if it's unregistered but being found in commerce. By comprehensive, I truly do mean comprehensive. Either your attorney can conduct the search on their own, or, much more likely, the attorney will arrange to really have a third-party trademark search company do the search, which is a combination of searches, including direct hit and analytical searches (similar sound, appearance, etc.) on the federal and state level along with business directories, yellow pages, ratings companies and more.
Your attorney should evaluate the results of the comprehensive search and write you a legal opinion recommending you pursue registration or not. This legal opinion is your insurance card that you could play when someone later sues you for infringement and your attorney recommended seeking registration, since you can argue that you're an innocent infringer and should therefore not have to pay for significant damages within an infringement lawsuit.
No. 4: If your attorney recommends seeking registration, you could have your attorney apply to join up the mark, or you can apply because of it yourself. In the event that you will do it yourself, you should still have an experienced Trumarked review the application to ensure you've completed it correctly. The expense of having the attorney do the application or review your application is a lot less than the price it will be to react to multiple Office Actions by a PTO Examining Attorney. While you can find bound to be some modifications required on the way no matter what, doing it right initially will minimize the changes necessary.
