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Trademarks - Benefits of Registration
August 24, 2012
MyTechnologyLawyer
IP Management - Trademarks
Registering your trademark and service marks can help you distinguish and protect your products and services from competition. By registering your mark you gain nationwide priority rights as well as presumptions of ownership and validity. Federal registration of your mark also may be useful in securing an Internet domain name, foreign registrations and in precluding import goods having confusingly similar marks. A registrant may file criminal charges if the mark is counterfeited.
Federal registration of a trademark confers important advantages as follows:
Prima Facie Evidence of Validity
A federal trademark registration is prima facie evidence of: the validity of the registration the registrant’s ownership of the mark the registrant’s exclusive right to use the mark in commerce in connection with the goods or services specified in the certificate
Notice of Ownership
Federal registration of a mark provides constructive notice of ownership nationwide, which precludes anyone else from claiming a good faith defense if they later adopt the same or a confusingly similar mark.
Date of First Use
The filing date of the trademark application is the constructive date of first use of the mark in commerce.
Duration
Unlike a patent or copyright, a trademark can last indefinitely if it stays in use. Federal registration of a trademark initially lasts for ten years, and may be renewed in ten year increments.
Jurisdiction
Once a trademark is registered, the federal courts have jurisdiction to hear any claim for trademark infringement. Federal court jurisdiction is advantageous because federal judges are generally more experienced with trademark issues, and are better equipped to decide the issues than state court judges.
Damages
An owner of a federal trademark may recover profits, damages and costs in a trademark infringement action. Additionally, the owner may be entitled to treble damages and attorneys fees.
Limits Grounds for Attacking Registration
Once a registered mark is five or more years old, there are only limited grounds for attacking the registration.
Possible Incontestability
Five years after the date of registration on the Principal Register, a mark may become incontestable in a cancellation proceeding, unless the mark has become "generic", has been abandoned, or if its registration was initially tainted with fraud or other illegality.
Use of the Trademark Symbol ®
The capital "R" surrounded by a circle is the symbol of a federally registered trademark, which can only be used if the mark is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Use of the federal trademark symbol puts all on notice that the owner has federal trademark protection.
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