Securing a registered trademark carries an array of benefits for your business. For example, it can help promote your brand and provide important legal differentiation in the marketplace. In addition, a trademark can help protect your business from competitors and scammers trying to confuse customers with low-quality and knockoff goods and services. In many instances, a trademark is the best legal recourse available to business owners who want to maintain the very elements that identify their company in the marketplace.
Common Law Trademark
You may be surprised to discover that a trademark is not created the day you receive approval from the USPTO. Instead, under U.S. law, a trademark is created upon the use of that mark in transacting goods or services in commerce. This is known as a “common law” trademark. You may be thinking, “great, I don’t need to spend time or money on getting my mark registered.” Not so fast. A common law trademark only provides extremely limited protections and rights to the owner. For example, it only provides protection to the geographical region in which use can be proved. This usually means a common law trademark is enforceable within the confines of a single state, city, or locality. In contrast, when you have a federal trademark approved via the USPTO, it conveys much greater protection and rights if the application is approved for registration.
Federal Trademark
If you went through the process of registering for a federal trademark and received approval, the legal enforceability bestowed upon that mark is somewhat murky. Basically, your enforcement rights will depend primarily on whether you are currently using the mark in commerce, or you intend to use the mark in commerce. If you are currently using the mark in commerce, your ability to enforce the mark will typically go into effect between seven months and a year from the date you filed your application. If, on the other hand, you are not currently using the mark, but intend to do so in the future, expect a time horizon between eight months and 2.5 years before you can legally enforce the mark.
Take Action by Contacting an Experienced Trademark Attorney in Los Angeles Today
It is incredibly important to protect your brand identity; hence it is in your best interest to invest the time and resources to secure a trademark registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Once registered, it will provide you exclusive rights to use the mark with specific goods or services. Furthermore, there is tremendous value in completing a trademark registration the right way. In either instance, you should retain the services of an experienced and knowledgeable trademark attorney in Los Angeles such as the professionals at the Omni Legal Group. Omni Legal Group is a premier Patent, Trademark, and Copyright law firm located in Los Angeles. For further information or to schedule a consultation please contact Omni Legal Group at 855.433.2226 or visit www.OmniLegalGroup.com to learn more.
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