How Often Do You Have To Register A Trademark

When you do file for a trademark or service mark consider these important points.

How often do you have to register a trademark. Starting this year the united states patent trademark office will be sending renewal notices to remind trademark owners of these important dates. Reason 1 to register a trademark local vs. If you register it to the business you can include the trademark as a business asset. Until you do so you won t have any rights against theft of your mark. If you file in a name other than that of the actual owner as of the filing date the application may be deemed void you will forfeit your fees and priority date and have to start over.

Once you have decided to federally register your trademark you can file the necessary forms to apply for federal trademark registration with the united states patent and trademark office online. But the real legal protection comes when you file an application for a trademark or service mark. If you plan to do business only within your state you may not have sufficient cause to register a federal trademark. If your trademark registration is not approved. Owners of registrations not based on the madrid protocol must file a declaration of use and or excusable nonuse and an application for renewal under 8 and 9 of the trademark act between the 9th and 10th years after the registration date and every 9th and 10th year period thereafter calculated from the registration date.

If approved the registration is good for ten years for trademarks issued after november 16 1989. The cost is between 275 375 per mark for each international class in which you seek registration depending upon the filing method you chose. That you being said if you are unaware of the renewal deadlines you re in luck. At the end of that time you must file a renewal application to maintain the trademark. As to costs outside of the initial application in the us if you get it registered without any office actions which will cost extra depending on the complexity of the rejection then you ll have to file a statement of use in the 5th 6th year and that will cost about 200 then you ll have to file a statement of use and declaration every 9th 10th year that will run you 400 each time.

If you have any questions about which to choose consult with an attorney. Let s take a look at why. It may take many months for your trademark to be approved. A trademark or service mark that only contains characters should be submitted in all caps. Such filings require the use of a mark across state lines or between the u s.

The law provides that if a trademark owner uses the registration symbol properly then any future defendants will be deemed to have constructive knowledge of the mark s registration.