Trademark Attorney Services for Your Irvine Business

The top 5 questions Irvine businesses have about obtaining a trademark.

Who should register a trademark?

A registered trademark can be anything that represents your brand in public, including business names, product names, logos, slogans, and even colors. Whether you are an individual with a single product or a business offering a variety of products and services, you should protect your brand through trademark registration.

What services does a trademark attorney provide?

Many trademark attorneys, including those at Gerben IP, provide a range of services relating to trademark registration, including conducting a comprehensive trademark search, drafting a trademark application, and responding to non-substantive Office Actions on your behalf. Once your trademark is registered, your attorney can assist with licensing agreements and monitoring services. If potential infringement is found, your attorney will work to take the appropriate legal action, as well.

When should I register my trademark?

Obtaining a trademark registration should be one of the first steps you take as an entrepreneur. Before you select a business or product name, purchase product labeling, and develop marketing material, you will want to know that the name you’ve chosen to represent your brand is truly available for use. In addition, the date you file your application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, will become your priority date. Anyone looking to file a similar mark after that date will be rejected by the USPTO.

Can I register the name of a celebrity?

The USPTO requires a signature from anyone whose name will appear in a trademark registration. If you plan to use a celebrity’s name and do not have their permission or signature on the application, the USPTO will reject it.

How do I protect my trademark outside the United States?

If you do business in another country, it’s important to protect your trademark in that country as well. There are two ways to file for trademark protection outside the United States. The first is to submit an application directly to each country’s trademark office. However, if you need protection in many countries, you may want to consider using the Madrid Protocol. This international treaty allows applicants to complete a single application in their home language. The application can be forward to any of the more than 90 member countries. Each country will then make its own determination on approval.

Common misperceptions about trademarks heard around Irvine, CA.

I don’t need to register my trademark with the USPTO, because I have common law rights as soon as I use it.

Common law trademark rights provide some limited protections, but they will only apply to disputes that occur within the small geographic region your business is located. If you plan to do business outside Southern California now or in the future, you will need to register your trademark with the USPTO.

I don’t have the time to monitor my registered trademark.

Allowing others to use your trademark could hurt your brand’s reputation and even steer loyal customers away from your products or services. For this reason, it is critical that you monitor your trademark’s use and take action if potential infringement is found. While trademark monitoring can be time consuming for business owners juggling many different tasks, most trademark attorneys, including those at Gerben IP, offer trademark monitoring services (you can start here).

Trademarks and copyrights are essentially the same thing.

Both trademarks and copyrights are forms of intellectual property, but each protects different things. A trademark protects anything that represents your brand. Common trademarks include business or product names, logos, and slogans. Copyrights, on the other than, protect creative works, like novels, art, and song lyrics. Read our blog post on the differences.

Once I register my business name, no one else will be able to use it.

This is not necessarily true. The USPTO will reject trademark applications that may be confusingly similar to another mark. However, if the mark is not likely to cause confusion in the marketplace, it may still gain approval from the USPTO. One example of this is Delta, which is a well-known trademark for both an airline and a faucet manufacturer. Because customers are not likely to confuse the two companies or the products and services they offer, the USPTO allowed both to trademark the world ‘Delta.’

My product name has been registered with the USPTO, so my brand is protected.

Registering a trademark for your product name is a critical first step in protecting your brand, but it may not be enough to protect it. Consider all aspects of your business, from the name of the business itself to logos or even signature colors. Each of these should be registered with the USPTO to ensure your brand is fully protected.