Community Empowerment Matters

  As a small business owner, you may be curious about the process of registering a trademark, also referred to as a mark,with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO for short. To register for federal trademark ownership, there are certain criteria that must be met. For example, your trademark cannot be too similar to another previously registered trademark that sells a similar type of product or service. To ensure that your mark is not too similar to another mark, you can search the trademark you are hoping to register on the USPTO’s website to see what similar marks might be registered.             It is possible that the USPTO denies your trademark registration for numerous reasons, including your trademark being too similar to another registered trademark or your trademark being descriptive, among other things. If your mark is descriptive, the USPTO might suggest that you instead amend your trademark appli...

  So, you decided you wanted to protect your brand, filled out the lengthy TEAS form, and submitted your application, just to get a response from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) informing you that your mark is “confusingly similar” to an already registered mark. What do you do now? One potential option for redress is submitting a consent agreement to the USPTO, enabling holders of similar trademarks to coexist. The USPTO holds that a “likelihood of confusion exists between trademarks when the marks are so similar and the services for which they are used are so related that consumers would mistakenly believe they come from the same source.” [1] When the USPTO looks at marks to determine if they are confusingly similar, they look at similarity in sound, in meaning, in appearance, and/or in the general commercial impression left by the mark. [2] The USPTO also looks at whether the goods are related. If the USPTO determines that an applied-for mark is confusingl...

                                             Image source: https://images.app.goo.gl/SiLaqbQu3mmQBzbJ7 Many small-business owners want to secure the protection of their brand names, logos, and slogans from unauthorized use by others. One powerful solution is to register one’s trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). While there are many factors to consider when choosing which trademarks to use and register, one important consideration is whether the trademark might run afoul of a concept known as dilution by blurring. What is dilution by blurring? In short, dilution by blurring (or simply “dilution” [1] ) is the use of a trademark which is sufficiently similar to a famous trademark such that it reduces the public’s perception of the distinctiveness or uniqueness of the famous trademark. [2] Unlike trademark infringement, dilution does not require a...

  The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the way people across the world exist. This change has been as true for individuals as for large and small businesses. Specifically, businesses have had to transform the structure of their work to fit the constantly changing COVID standards. Organizations that previously did not operate a website or yelp page, began to conduct business over the internet. Businesses that had a preexisting online market were pushed to make their online market their primary market. The overwhelming transition of businesses onto online platforms has propelled a renewed importance of obtaining trademarks and intellectual property protection for one’s business.         So, what is a trademark?   A trademark is defined as “any word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these things that identifies your goods or services,” by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the regulating agency. 1 Essentially, a trademark h...

  Marketing photo from Pixabay Trademark is the legal term for a word or phrase that distinguishes one brand from another and that customers rely on to know the source of the product. [1] If you are thinking about starting a business, consider these few simple steps for how to use the legal framework of trademark with a marketing perspective to get the best outcome for your new business. Step 1: Naming Your Business             One of the first steps [2] of launching a business is choosing a name. In that moment, the founder has a multitude of directions to choose from that could alter the course of success for the business. Whatever they decide will be the first impression customers have of a business or product. Should founders choose a literal, descriptive [3] name ( such as “Detroit Automobile Repair” ) to make sure their audience has a clear picture of what sort of business with which they are interacting? Or is it a be...