A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others. A service mark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than goods. Trademarks make up many of the brand images we see every day. The Nike swoosh, Adidas bars, and Apple’s slightly bitten apple are all examples of registered trademarks.

A trademark (or “mark”) is how to differentiate yourself and show that your goods and services differ from a competitor. Your brand is how you prove that your goods and services are better. That’s why you want to work with a small business patent attorney to make sure everything is up to snuff and ready to file your application to protect your hard-earned intellectual property. A trademark is a protection to your name in connection with what services you offer and your Good Will, as well as the name, mark, sign, color, and smell that is distinguished as your brand. For example, when you pick up a bottled soda, and you see the Coca-Cola trademarked logo on the label, you expect to drink Coca-Cola, as opposed to Pepsi. That’s what trademarks do - they help consumers differentiate between your brand and a competitor's. A federally registered trademark gives you the right to use your trademark all across the nation as the owner of the mark. A federally registered mark allows you to use the ® mark on your products and puts your trademarked name in the USPTO registry. The advantage of being listed in the USPTO registry is that prevents someone from filing a similar mark that would be likely confused with your trademarked name and offered goods and services. If you are looking to submit a trademark, you will want to make sure that you search the USPTO’s Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) to make sure that your mark will not be denied due to the likelihood of confusion for another similarly named marked with similar services. You will also want to search state trademark databases, business name databases, and a general internet search to find any potential conflicts to your mark and avoid any trademark infringement which could result in costly litigation and inability to move forward with your business.

Patent is for an invention of a particular product. A copyright is for original artistic works. While a trademark is associated with these it is distinctively different. For instance, if you have a patent for your invention and decide to name it “Invention Co,” that name can now be trademarked to prevent a competitor from using your name. Trademark can include the color, characters, font, and/or stylized script, wording, and design of your name, such as Coca-Cola’s distinctive cursive script or Pepsi’s boxed layout design. As a caveat, a business name registered with the state is not trademarked, nor is a website domain. To be classified as a trademark, the name must have a special filing with the USPTO, and the more unique your name is, the more likely it is to be approved. Once approved though, The USPTO cannot enforce your trademark. Hence, there are many benefits to hiring an attorney who is specialized in trademark law and can aid in performing a prior-use search for your mark, giving a legal opinion of the availability and strength of your mark, interpreting the results of prior-mark search, determine the likelihood of confusion over your mark, navigating the application process, selecting an appropriate specimen to submit, preparing any responses from the UTSPO office, and informing you of your trademark rights.