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 Registering a trademark is a critical step in protecting your business name and logo. By registering a trademark you obtain an intellectual property right which is a form of property. This property is like any other form of property – it increases in value as you grow your business and build your brand.
In addition, if you are growing a business, registering a trademark prevents someone else from selling products or services under your name and stealing business from you. After you achieve trademark registration on the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) trademark registry you have the presumption of national ownership of that trademark. You can therefore prevent others from using your trademark and sue for damages if someone infringes on your trademark.
The first step to registering a trademark is to conduct a proper trademark search to ensure that no one else has applied for or registered a trademark on the USPTO trademark registry. The USPTO has several electronic systems to smooth the process for searching the trademark registry for registered trademarks, however, without the skills of an experienced registered trademark searcher, finding all the individuals registering a trademark similar to yours can be difficult.
After the trademark search has been completed, registering a trademark requires the filing of a trademark application with the USPTO. The next step in registering a trademark is to wait for the USPTO to examine and approve for your trademark for registration on the trademark registry. If the USPTO finds a problem with the trademark you have attempted to register, it will notify you via an Office Action.
If the USPTO approves your application to for registration on the trademark registry, it will send a registered trademark certificate to the address you provided on your application. Once the process of registering a trademark is complete, you may begin enforcing the rights associated with a registered trademark. These rights include demanding that others are prevented from registering a trademark which is similar to yours and demanding that anyone who is using your registered trademark immediately ceases such use.
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