Primary Benefits Of Federal Trademark Registration
There are several good reasons why you should register your company name, product names, logos, slogans and any trademark that identifies your products and services.
Federal Trademark Registration Offers Greater Protection and Additional Rights
- Successful trademark registration grants the trademark owner exclusive nationwide ownership of the trademark
- Successful trademark registration decreases the likelihood of another party claiming that your trademark infringes upon their trademark
- Trademark registration provides official notice to others that your trademark is already taken; consequently, a company that later adopts a confusingly similar trademark can not claim ignorance of the trademark
- Registration offers the future right to make the trademark "incontestable" (after a few years), which provides conclusive evidence regarding the validity of the trademark and of the registrant's exclusive right to use the trademark in case of a dispute
- Federal registration makes registration in foreign countries easier
- Registration allows you to prevent importation of infringing foreign goods via registration with U.S. Customs.
Federal Registration Deters Future Disputes
- Federal registration of a trademark allows you to put a ® after the trademark, alerting others to your trademark registration and preventing the defense of innocent infringement
- The trademark will appear in trademark search reports ordered by others, which will discourage others from proceeding with the trademark registration of the same or similar trademark
- The United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") will refuse trademark registration to any trademark it deems confusingly similar to your trademark.
Federal Trademark Registration Offers Better Remedies In Case Of A Future Dispute
- The owner of a federal trademark registration has an automatic right to sue in federal court
- In case of a dispute, the owner of a trademark registration receives the presumption in court of being the valid owner of a trademark
- Trademark registration also grants the trademark owner the right to recover up to triple damages and attorney's fees in court from a trademark infringer
- Trademark registration increases the likelihood of the successful filing of a dispute resolution policy for an infringing Internet domain name
