Trademark

Oliva Law Group, P.C. can help you file a Trademark in the U.S., Canada or Europe!

You're out surfing and while catching a wave you have a brilliant idea and coin the term “suns out, ______ out!”. You make t-shirts with your screen printer at home and sell them on the Venice Beach boardwalk. The following week, you notice every shop on the boardwalk is selling t-shirts with your phrase on it without your permission. You’re not stoked!

Maybe you’ve thought up a really cool band name or are starting a business and want to clear the name first.

Most people don’t know that, in the United States, if you use a name in connection with the sale of a good or service, you have certain common law rights to that name without filing a trademark, provided that someone hasn’t used it already!

Benefits of Filing a Trademark:

Other people and businesses are less likely to use your trademark because your trademark will come up in a trademark database search. Further, you can use the small circled “R” once your mark is registered, which puts other people on notice that your trademark is registered.
Official documentation and legal presumption that you are the national owner of the trademark

Registration protects you against international imports of similarly branded goods from offshore manufacturers.
Sometimes a registration in the U.S. has certain benefits if you want to file your trademark internationally
If you are involved in a trademark lawsuit, you have an advantage in terms of a burden of proof at trial and often times can request additional damages

You can register a logo mark or word mark!

You can register your logo, think the Nike “swoosh”, the word “Nike” itself or both!

Find out more

83%

of people who filed a trademark using an attorney received government approval.

General info on filing a trademark

While you aren’t required to hire an attorney to file a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), you should, because the requirements and forms are confusing.

A study conducted by the University of North Carolina School of Law found that only 57% of people who filed a trademark without using an attorney received government approval on their application. That being said, 83% of the people who used an attorney got approval.

Oliva Law Group, P.C. can help you file a Trademark in the U.S., Canada or Europe!

Steps in filing a trademark

STEP 1

Conduct a Trademark Search

Although the USPTO’s Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) is available to search for trademark applications and registrations, the system is not a comprehensive list of potentially conflicting marks. A trademark attorney can conduct a comprehensive search of federal registrations, state registrations, and “common law” unregistered trademarks before you file your application. This type of search is important because other trademark owners may have rights in a name similar to yours that are not federally registered, and therefore would not show up in TESS.

STEP 2

File the Application

Oliva Law Group, P.C. will file your trademark application, which will require that you provide information concerning your business or yourself and the mark you want to register.

STEP 3

Use It or Lose It!

You have to use the logo or words in connection with the sale of a good or service OR have the intent to use the mark within a certain time period.

STEP 4

Responding to USPTO examining attorney

Sometimes, prior to registration, the examining attorney will reply to a trademark application to clarify points of your application. Oliva Law Group, P.C. will reply to the examining attorney at no extra fee or charge.