Michael Atkins - Seattle Trademark Lawyer

Recommend The Trademark Registration Process from Start to Finish (Email)

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New clients often ask what it takes to get a federal trademark registration. Here’s a quick rundown:

1. Trademark clearance - The first step entails searching the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s database to find previously-filed applications and registrations to determine if your trademark would create a likelihood of confusion. If the marks are similar and the goods or services are similar, the PTO’s examining attorney will deny your application. It makes sense to know what your chances are of getting your trademark registered before you file (and pay the fees). Generic, descriptive, and other types of marks also will be refused and, therefore, risk not being registered.

2. Filing the application - It’s easy to fill out the PTO’s interface. The challenge is making judgment calls along the way, including who owns the application; whether any part of the mark needs to be disclaimed as being unprotectable; how to describe the associated goods or services; what the PTO will accept as proof of use; and whether the mark is generic, descriptive, likely to cause confusion with an existing application or registration, or is subject to any of the other statutory bars to registration. The PTO charges $275 per class of goods or services (if you avail yourself of one of its pre-approved descriptions) and $325 if you write your own.

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Copyright © 2006-2021, Michael G. Atkins. All rights reserved. I'm a partner and Seattle intellectual property attorney at Atkins Intellectual Property, PLLC, where I focus my practice on issues involving the Lanham Act, including trademark infringement, unfair competition, trade dress infringement, trademark dilution, false designation of origin, counterfeiting, cybersquatting, trademark licensing, trademark applications, trademark registrations, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), and the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). Thanks for checking out my blog. Please visit again soon!