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Top Things Entrepreneurs can do to Increase a Likelihood of Protection for a Trademark

  • Select a mark that has at least one distinctive word (e.g., Google is a distinctive term) at the beginning of the mark. A distinctive word is not an ordinary word using in everyday conversation.

  • Select a mark that is not merely descriptive of the goods or services associated with the mark. The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) often rejects mark that are merely descriptive of the goods or services. For example, the mark “Car” is descriptive of the goods “cars.”

  • Don’t publicly use your trademark until after you have filed a federal trademark application so that competitors don’t file a federal trademark application before you do.

  • Select a trademark attorney with at least 10-years of experience, or a trademark attorney that is supervised by another trademark attorney with at least 10-years of experience to prepare and file a federal trademark application.

  • Select a trademark attorney that has positive Google ratings from existing clients.

  • Complete a Trademark Questionnaire form provided by the trademark attorney which provides detailed information on the mark and how you plan on using the mark.

  • Have a trademark search performed by the trademark attorney to determine the probability of obtaining a trademark registration and whether any trademark infringement issues exist. If the probability of registration is high, then you most likely will want to proceed within filing a federal trademark application. If the probability is registration is low, then you most likely will want to select a different mark.

  • Make sure the trademark application accurately describes the goods or services that are associated with the mark.

  • Only file a trademark application if you plan on using the mark in commerce in the next 6-9 months. The USPTO requires that a trademark owner utilize the mark on products or services before allowing a federal trademark registration.

  • If you have a design mark (i.e., a mark containing words and an image/logo), provide a file to the trademark attorney with the following parameters required by the USPTO.
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