Once you receive your trademark registration certificate in the mail, you may be asking yourself, “now what?”  The process of getting your trademark was a long one, and you definitely don’t want to take the chance that you may lose the mark and have to start all over again.  Your trademark is without a doubt important to you, so you probably want to know the things that you need to do to keep it safe.

First, periodic filings are required to retain your trademark.  These filings are due 5 and 10 years after you get your trademark and then every 10 years thereafter.  You must prove in these filings that you are using the mark in commerce exactly as the trademark was filed.  The deadlines for the trademark filings are firm and missing a deadline can be extremely costly, often leading to loss of your trademark.

Second, protecting your new trademark is an essential part of retaining your trademark.  As the trademark owner it is your legal responsibility to adequately police your trademark and make sure no one is infringing upon it, failure to do so can result in the loss of your trademark rights.  This can be a difficult task as adequate protection of your mark requires constant monitoring of new trademark applications with the USPTO and also watching for infringing use of your trademark in commerce.

To assist with these duties and responsibilities, I offer a “Trademark Monitoring” service.  This services works to ensure that 1) No one infringes on your trademark; 2) You continue proper use of your trademark; and 3) You never miss a trademark renewal.  If you are interesting in this service please contact me at 1-877-350-6275.

Tags: application for trademark, trademark consulation, trademark registration, trademark registration process