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Trademarks

    Trademarks Editor's Picks

    • About Trademarks

      Every business looking to create a familiar logo and color scheme should apply for a trademark as soon as possible. Trademarks are distributed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to applicants who want to protect their images from use by competitors. The USPTO puts every trademark applicant through a rigorous review... more »

    • How to Search for Conflicting Trademarks

      Before you sit down to draft your trademark registration application to file with the United States Patent andTrademark Office (PTO), conducting a preliminary search for conflicting trademarks is a requirement. If a mark similar to yours--or the same--is already in use, your application will probably get rejected. There are numerous... more »

    • What is Covered By a Trademark?

      Like patents, trademarks are an important way for American innovators to maintain the competitive advantages of their efforts. Trademarks were only granted in individual states until the late 1800s, when Congress enacted the first federal trademark law. Since then, a considerable amount of litigation has come to define trademarks, the... more »

    • How to Obtain a Trademark

      There are benefits to registering your trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The registration itself publicizes the trademark and legitimizes your presumption of ownership on a national scale. It also shifts the burden of proof to any others who might claim prior use and creates federal jurisdiction for infringement... more »

    • About Trademarking

      The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) handles trademarking for commercial logos, slogans and names for thousands of businesses each year. The trademarking process is not a necessity as intellectual property rights can be asserted in court based on evidence of first use. Inventors and business owners go through the... more »

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    Wikipedia

    Trademark

    A trademark or trade markThe styling of trademark as a single word is predominantly used in the United States and Philippines only, while the two-word styling trade mark is used in many other countries around the world, including the European Union and Commonwealth and ex-Commonwealth jurisdictions (although Canada officially uses trade-mark pursuant to the Trade-mark Act, trade mark and trademark are also commonly used). is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or services from those of other entities.

    A trademark is designated by the following symbols:
    *™ (for an unregistered trademark, that is, a mark used to promote or brand goods)
    *℠ (for an unregistered service mark, that is, a mark used to promote or brand services)
    *® (for a registered trademark)

    A trademark is a type of intellectual property, and typically a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of these elements."Restatement 1995">Restatement (Third) of Unfair Competition § 9 (1995) There is also a range of non-conventional trademarks comprising marks which do not fall into these standard categories.

    The owner of a registered trademark may commence legal proceedings for trademark infringement to prevent unauthorized use of that trademark. However, registration is not required. The owner of a common law trademark may also file suit, but an unregistered mark may be protectable only within the geographical area within which it has been used or in geographical areas into which it may be reasonably expected to expand.

    The term trademark is also used informally to refer to any distinguishing attribute by which an individual is readily identified, such as the well known characteristics of celebrities. When a trademark is used in relation t read more at » http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark

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