Are you protecting your trade name, brand name, clever slogan or logo? Are you protecting your trade dress (packaging and product design)?
A trademark or service mark is a name, symbol, or logo that is applied to a product or service that distinguishes it from other products or services.
When a trademark or service mark registration is granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the right conferred is the right to exclude others from using the mark in commerce in the product or service group where registration has been granted. A trademark or service mark protects words, slogans, names, symbols, logos, sounds, scents, and colors that distinguish goods and services from those manufactured or sold by others.
A mark indicates the source of the goods (although the consumer does not need to know the actual source). Trademarks and service marks can be renewed forever as long as they are being used in commerce. State law and common law afford some protection to trademarks that are not registered, however, there are very significant advantages to federal registration.
Trademark and service mark protection must be applied for in every country where protection is sought because the exclusive right granted by each government is only enforceable within the territorial limits of the granting government and the jurisdictional limits of its courts. |
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