Trademark FAQ

The following are answers to questions frequently asked regarding trademarks, trademark registration, and trademark disputes.

After reading the posts below, you can see all the trademark posts here.

1. Initial Considerations

• What is a Trademark: the Usual and the Exotic?
• What is Trade Dress?
• What is the difference between a trademark and a service mark?
• How do I choose a strong trademark?
• Speculating in trademarks is fruitless

2. Proper Trademark Use

• Use Your Trademark Consistently or It Will Be Weak

3. Trademark Searching

• Why searching the USPTO database is a good start but not enough to know your mark is clear to use
• I found found my trademark registered for different goods or services, is there a conflict?

4. Trademark Application and Filing

• State or Federal
  • Should I apply for a state or federal trademark registration?
  • Illinois state trademark registration does not grant rights throughout the state
• Should I include words or a logo or both in a trademark application?
• Should I claim color in my trademark application?
• I have many trademarks, which should I register first?
• Should I select a use-based or intent-to-use based trademark application?
• Parts of a Trademark Application
  • Who is the owner of the trademark and trademark application?
  • What is a Statements of Use?
  • What is a Specimen?
  • What is Use in Commerce?
  • What is a First Use in Commerce?
  • What is a Description of Goods or Services?
  • What is a Trademark Drawing?

5. After Trademark Applications is Filed

• What happens after a federal trademark application is filed?

6. After Registration

• What are the trademark registration renewal requirements?

7. International and Foreign Trademarks

• Obtaining Foreign Trademark Protection through the Madrid International Trademark System

8. Lapse of Registration and Trademark Abandonment

• Lapse of trademark registration is not abandonment of all trademark rights
• Reviving dead brands/trademarks of others: trademark windfalls
• Use it or lose it: trademark abandonment and revival

9. Trademark Conflicts

• Responding to a Trademark Cease and Desist letter:
  • My use is a fair use
  • Sophisticated purchasers and expensive services
  • Different channels of trade
  • The mark is geographically descriptive
  • Trademarks have different meanings
  • Trademarks sound similar but are weak
  • Trademark is descriptive
  • Trademark is weak due to third party uses
  • I was first
  • The First Amendment