TRADE MARK SEARCH REGISTRATION

TRADE MARK SEARCH REGISTRATION

While the government filing fee for a federal trademark application is $275 per class (online filing), I would argue that time is a much more precious resource that is sacrificed when registration is refused due to your mark being too close to a prior trademark filing. Advantages of knowing trademark risks sooner Why go through the hassle of incorporating under a particular business name only to find out that someone else already registered a similar name for similar products? Beyond incorporation, you may have to change the brand in which youвЂ™ve invested money and time developing. Using a trademark knockout search to choose a business nameДЇor the same reasons, entrepreneurs ought to consider a knockout search even before choosing a company name. WhileВ certain risks regarding unregistered common law use may still remain unknown, knocking out conflicting trademark filings at least clears the path for a more likely registration. Instead ofВ spending thousands of dollars on a comprehensive trademark search that wouldВ include common law trademarks (i.e., unregistered), spending a fraction of the cost to identifyВ the most obvious risks to registration would beВ an efficient use of limited resources. Most bang for your buckДЇor early stage startups on a shoestring budget, knockout trademark searches can be quite cost-effective. A seasoned trademark attorney should be able to advise you on the possibility of rejection due to grounds other than likelihood of confusion. Accordingly, knockout searches do not anticipate other types of rejections such as mere descriptiveness. Knockout searches are intended to find prior filings for very similar marks (i.e., identical or nearly identical marks). What a trademark knockout search would not cover If you have not yet used your desired trademark, the knockout search results may help you pivot to a new trademark if necessary. Our firm can perform a knockout search prior to filing your trademark application. One of the practical benefits of using an experienced trademark attorney, therefore, is the opportunity to discuss whether or not it would make sense to proceed in light of these borderline trademark filings. The reverse could be true вЂ“ the marks are identical, but the goods or services in the trademark filings appearВ unrelated to your product. Perhaps the marks are not identical, but the goods or services may be closely related to your product. In performing a knockout search, an experienced trademark attorney may run into certain trademark registrations and/or pending applications that are borderline obstacles to registration. Third party services are available for searching design elements. A knockout search typically covers only the wording in the mark, and not any design or graphic elements. The goal is to assess the risk of a likelihood of confusion refusal by a USPTO trademark examiner (вЂњexamining attorneyвЂќ) reviewing your trademark application. Identifying obvious risks of rejection based on similar marks before applyingДЄ trademark knockout search generally refers to a pre-filing search of the USPTO trademark database (aka TESS) for identical or highly similar marks.

Trade mark search