Introduction
A trademark is a sophisticated type of intellectual property. The use of a term or a picture to indicate the source of products or services is what the owner of a trademark actually owns, not the actual word or image.
The secret of protecting your trademark is understanding what it protects and how to utilise it.
Whenever you initially submit an application for a registered trademark, you must also submit a trademark statement of use. The claim serves as evidence that the trademark is genuinely being used in trade. As stated in the statement of use, it is crucial to demonstrate the mark’s actual usage.
Protection of trademark in the USA
Protecting intellectual property rights in order to prevent trademark infringement and counterfeiting is known as trademark protection.
Make sure that no one else is using your trademark and file legal complaints against anyone caught doing so in order to protect it against infringement and counterfeiting. By doing research, you may create a powerful trademark or service mark that will be challenging for rivals to copy.
The US Trademark Act of 1946 mandates that an application for registration be submitted within six months of the mark’s first use. If the US Patent & Trademark Office does not take any action on the application within four years of submission, it is said to have been abandoned.
To put it another way, you must move swiftly and submit an application before someone else if you wish to register a trademark for your good or service, failing which your mark would become public domain and lose its protection.
How long does a US trademark last?
Trademarks have no specified expiration date, unlike patents and copyrights. As long as the owner uses a trademark, it will continue to exist. The owner of a registered trademark must continue to use it in regular commerce after the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) awards registration.
However, utilising the mark alone is insufficient. In accordance with section 8, the owner must present proof that the trademark is still being used. The owner must submit a section 8 declaration to demonstrate that the mark is still being used.
Maintaining your trademark
The owner is required to offer concrete evidence that the trademark is being used on the tenth anniversary of registration. Similar to the trademark section 8 declaration, the owner must also submit photographic proof of a product utilising the brand that is for sale in addition to the declaration.
Every ten years after that, as part of the trademark renewal procedure, the owner will similarly need to present evidence of use and a declaration—unless the trademark is to be abandoned.
The trademark is how you establish yourself to your clients as the source of your items. Protecting your capacity to exercise such rights is directly in the interest of the USPTO.
Nevertheless, you must continue to exercise your rights for them to remain enforceable. You must produce goods, market them, and brand them with your logo. If you don’t do any of those actions, your trademark is no longer yours to defend. You will lose your right to use the trademark if you don’t follow them for an extended period of time.
Conclusion
Even if your US trademark might not be used indefinitely, you should nevertheless register it right away! In order to prevent losing your company’s trademarks, it’s critical to remain current with state and federal legislation. The good news is that it is simple to do this and just requires submitting an application with the USPTO; from the time of filing until registration is made accessible, this process takes less than six months.
Additionally, by following this procedure, you’ll make sure that other businesses are aware of your brand or product name before releasing comparable goods on the market. This will assist safeguard those assets for years to come.
