Trademark Usage Rules
Understanding trademark usage is important to protecting the identity of your business. Trademarks are vital to conducting advertising campaigns and inspiring brand loyalty among consumers. Establishing your right to use a particular trademark will prevent any legal disputes in the future and will help your business develop a solid customer base.
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Identification
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A trademark is used to identify a business or service through the use of a unique word, name, symbol or phrase. A trademark is often the same thing as a brand name and is used distinguish the products and services of one company or manufacturer from those of a competing company.
Types
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Registered trademarks are trademarks that have been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Registering a trademark offers the best legal protection should there ever be a challenge from a competitor.
Common Law trademarks are not registered and become yours simply because you have been using the name or symbol along with the "TM" designation. You can only use a common law trademark in the geographic area in which you conduct business. If you plan to expand your business to another area and another business has the same name trademarked, you will be unable to use the same name in that area. -
Written Usage
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When writing an article or report about a trademarked company, you must follow the trademarked name with a superscript "TM" if the trademark is unregistered. For example, if the word "Snoozer" was trademarked, it would be written as "Snoozer TM." A superscript SM follows an unregistered name given to a company that provides a service. This is called a service mark, rather than a trademark. If a trademark is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the registered trademark symbol, an "R" in a circle, is used after the name of the company. If the trademarked name is used several times in an article, only the first usage needs to include the appropriate mark. It is recommended that subsequent trademark usage be bold or italicized.
Registration
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Before you can register a trademark, you must conduct a search to determine if the trademark is already in use. Free searches can be conducted on the USPTO website. This website is listed in the Resource section of this article. Both name and symbol searches can be performed using the website. If you prefer to conduct your search in person, you can do so by visiting the Trademark Public Search Facility in Alexandria, Virginia or may wish to visit a Patent and Trademark Depository Library. The USPTO contains a listing of these libraries.
While the USPTO maintains a listing of registered trademark listings, it does not include common law trademarks, as they do not need to be registered with the USPTO. The first company to use a mark to conduct business or file an application with the USPTO is given the ultimate right to use and register the mark. A common law search involves checking industrial listings, state trademark offices and phone directories. The process can be time-consuming and you may wish to hire a search company to conduct a common law search.
Fee information and trademark registration forms are available online at the USPTO website.
Benefits
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Registering a trademark gives definitive proof of ownership of the trademark, which will be important in establishing your legal right to the name should you ever be challenged. Having a registered trademark in the United States can be a benefit in acquiring trademark registration in other countries and registration can be used to preventing the importation of foreign products that would infringe on your trademark.
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