Generally an applicant should not be too concerned with how long it takes to obtain a federal trademark registration at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Once your trademark application is filed, later filed applications by others are less of a concern. Further, in the United States, trademark rights accrue based not only on registration but also on use. Therefore simply by using your trademark in commerce you can begin to generate common law rights which you can assert even before you obtain a registration. This article will explain the process and the general timing of events after an application is filed.
Trademark Office Approval Is No Guarantee of Freedom to Use Mark
Approval of a trademark application by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) does not guarantee that the use of the mark is clear, e.g. that your use will not infringe another’s trademark rights. This is true because, as mentioned above, a trademark user can generate common law rights by use alone, and the USPTO will not search for common law trademark usages that are not registered. Only a comprehensive trademark search can reveal information sufficient to provide advice regarding whether your use of a mark is clear.
If you’re concerned about another filing a trademark application before you begin using your trademark, you can file an intent-to-use trademark application. After the intent to use application is filed, you can begin using your mark without waiting for the trademark registration to issue. In fact there is almost no trademark reason to wait, after an application is filed, for a trademark registration to issue before using your mark. This is true because the USPTO’s granting a registration, as provided above, is not a bulletproof clearance for you to use your Mark. In certain circumstances a court can reverse the trademark office’s decision to grant a trademark registration if a prior trademark user has superior rights. If you need clearance assurance you should have a comprehensive trademark search conducted.
Filing to First Office Action or Allowance
After your trademark application is filed you should expect to hear back from the trademark office whether there is an objection or refusal to your application or whether it will be allowed within three to six months. Current USPTO stats provide the average time to first office action (first response from the USPTO) or allowance after filing is about three months.
Refusal or Objection
If there is a refusal or objection the USPTO will provide that to you in writing in the form of a Office Action. The Office Action will explain the time period in which a response is required. Generally a six-month time frame from the date of the Office Action is allowed for filing a response. A response can be filed earlier.
Refusals or objections provided in an Office Action maybe due to relatively simple formalities, such as the USPTO requiring a change to the description of goods/services provided in the application. In other cases refusals are based on an allegation by the Trademark Examining Attorney that your mark conflicts with another prior registered mark. Refusals based on an alleged conflict with another mark tend to require more involved responses than those regarding application formality issues.
If you receive a refusal or a rejection, the time until you receive a registration, if you’re successful in overcoming the refusal or objection, depends on how long you wait to file a response and how long the Trademark Office takes to consider and reply to your response. Further, in some cases it may be necessary to reply to multiple Office Actions issued by the trademark office or occasionally to pursue an appeal, all of which take more time.
Publication
If the USPTO does not issue a rejection or refusal or if you are successful in overcoming a rejection or refusal, then the USPTO will take an action based on the type of trademark application you have filed (use v. intent-to-use). If you filed a section 1(a) use-based application for registration on the primary register, then the USPTO will provide you with a notice that they will publish the application for opposition. Once the application is published for opposition anyone who believes they would be damaged by you receiving a registration has the opportunity to object to your application by filing an opposition. If no opposition is filed then the US PTO will take one of two courses depending on the type of application that is filed.
Registration or Notice of Allowance
If the application is a used based section 1(a) application then the USPTO will issue a certificate of registration within a few months after the end of the 30 day opposition period, if no opposition is filed. If the application is a section 1(b) intent-to-use application, then the USPTO will issue a notice of allowance within a few months after the end of the 30 day opposition period. The applicant will be given six months after the notice of allowance to file a statement of use proving that they are using the trademark in commerce. Extensions of time can be requested in six-month increments if the applicant cannot file a statement of use showing use of the mark within six months after the notice of allowance.
Conclusion
Currently it takes on average 10 months for a typical use-based trademark application to register and for a intent-to-use application to receive a notice of allowance. Your application could take longer or less time depending on if there is a refusal or objection or if the USPTO processes your application at a quicker or slower rate than average.