| There are over two and a half million federally registered trademarks and near twenty million commercial common law trade marks and names in use within the United States ! Any existing trademark or trade name in use will generally take precedence over a new use. Therefore, if you are planning on opening a new business or launching a new product and there is a likelihood of confusion in appearance or meaning with your proposed business or product name and an existing mark then you may not be able to use it ! The process of determining whether or not your proposed mark is going to infringe an existing mark is called clearing a mark for use. This should be done prior to using your mark, and again before registering your trademark if there is a delay between the initial clearance and the registration. Clearing a mark for use can be expensive, and possibly time consuming, if it is done properly. Or, clearance can be done cheaply and quickly. Because the process is inevitably frustrating, many businesses are enticed by the cheaper trademark services that make the whole process sound less complicated than it really is. Sometimes it makes sense to do a cheaper level of searching, but you are almost always far better off paying for a job well done. However, no matter how thorough of a search you purchase, you are always incurring some amount of risk that another company, too small to be picked up on the search report, has been using the mark before you. Even if small, they will have a prior right that will inhibit or prevent your use. Once you have cleared mark for use and have started using your newly created business name, product name or slogan, you will begin to establish your legal rights to your name in the geographic trade area where you do business. This is known as common law trademark rights. However, these rights are secondary to a prior use or a registered mark. Therefore, before spending time and significant money promoting your business name or the brand name of your product, it is wise to make sure that the name is available, and is not in use by another, by conducting a comprehensive trademark search. Failure to conduct a proper search can be costly, and you could lose your right to use the name in the future. Even after spending thousands of dollars promoting your business or product. Our attorneys will develop a trademark search designed to uncover similar trademarks - even those with different spellings or slightly different variations in wording. Our comprehensive search can include the following databases: Federal and State Trademark Database Canadian and European Trademarks Corporate names from all 50 states Fictitious Business Name filings Business Finder Database and Yellow Page Listings Comprehensive Internet search and search of Internet domain names We will then discuss the findings with you and prepare a clear and concise search report detailing the most relevant findings so that you can make an informed and intelligent decision on choosing an appropriate trademark or service mark. |
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