A well-chosen trademark that develops strong product identification becomes a valuable commercial asset. To protect the value of your trademark and keep it alive, use the trademark properly. The following guidelines are a suggested policy for protecting your trademarks.
1
Select a strong trademark.
Trademarks that are fanciful (Xerox) or arbitrary (Apple), and not descriptive (Report Writer) are more easily protected. If for business reasons you prefer to have some descriptive meaning (to convey an idea of your product’s attributes to customers), you can strengthen otherwise descriptive marks:
• Combine two or more descriptive or suggestive components into one mark.
• Avoid terms that are “diluted” by wide use in the particular field.
• Combine weak components with more distinctive components.
• Choose “suggestive” marks over descriptive ones.
2
Search to see if your trademark is available before you adopt it.
After selecting a trademark, conduct a search to determine if it is available. The mark should be adopted and registered soon after the search is completed, since the search report is effective only as of a given date.
3
Use proper trademark notice.
For trademarks registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, place the “®” symbol in the upper right hand corner of the mark. (An alternative notice that the mark is federally registered is “Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office” or the abbreviated version “Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.”)
Trademarks do not need to be registered in order to have legal protection against infringement. Place a “™” symbol in the upper right hand corner of the mark. Do not use the registered trademark. designations unless and until federal registration is actually issued. Do not use the registered trademark designations in foreign countries unless the trademark is registered there.
It is a common courtesy, but not legally required, to acknowledge the trademarks of others used in advertising. ("Widgets is a registered trademark of Wadget Corp.")
In typewritten letters and memos, identify your trademarks by use of capital letters, bold face type, or quotation marks.
4
Use your trademarks consistently and properly.
The most effective trademark use is consistent and continuous. A mark can fall into the public domain if used carelessly, and registration can become more difficult if the company’s use of the mark has been incorrect.
Use your trademarks as adjectives, not as nouns. Refer to your “[Trademark] product,” rather than using that term standing alone as the name for the product.
Use your trademarks consistently, exactly as designed. Do not use the trademarks in plural form. Do not change the mark through additions, prefixes, or suffixes.
Monitor licensees and franchisees. Do not license others to use your marks except for the goods and services with which they are associated.
5
Register your trademarks
Trademarks can be registered nationally, by state, and in foreign countries.
Trademarks do not need to be registered in order to have legal protection against infringement. However, registering a trademark confers numerous benefits on the trademark owner -- both in protecting your entitlement to use the mark if challenged and preventing infringement by others using the same or a confusingly similar mark.
A national trademark registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office provides protection thoughout the USA. A state trademark registration may be useful for a trademark used locally or intrastate only. International registrations should be considered in the countries in which the trademark will be used or to protect against losing the mark in other countries in the future.
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