Spokane Trademark Attorneys & Lawyers

What Is Trademark Cancellation?

Trademark cancellation is the legal process of removing a registered trademark from the books. This allows the trademark to be registered by another party.

Trademark cancellation is a legal argument under the Lanham Act. Its purpose is to allow a party to petition for removal of a trademark from the federal register. This is done by filing a Petition to Cancel, which is usually argued before the TTAB, or Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. In some cases, the argument can be litigated in federal court, and the courts can also cancel a mark in such a circumstance.

To cancel a trademark, the petitioner must prove that the mark will

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What is a Trademark Statement of use?

A Statement of Use (SOU) is one of the official forms used by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It can only be filed once a business has started to use a trademark. This means you can't register a trademark just to tie it up; you need to use it in commerce. Ways to prove a trademark's use include displaying it on products, packaging, or other marketing tools.

If you filed your trademark on the basis of intent to use, you must file a Statement of Use to show you are using it to sell goods and/or services. If you aren't ready to file the SOU, you need to file a Request for Extension of Time to File a Statement of Use within six months of when your Notice of Allowance was issued. The extensions can be filed every six months for up to 36 mont

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What Is an Information Disclosure Statement?

An information disclosure statement (IDS) describes all prior art or related technology claimed in a patent application. It places the burden of disclosure on the inventor or applicant. If an application doesn't have this statement or fails to include key prior art, any issued patent may become invalid or considered fraudulent.

Information Disclosure Statement: What Is It?

Patent applicants have a responsibility to complete an IDS, which references:

• all prior art, or patents
• patent applications, and
• publications related to an invention.

Because inventors are more likely to be aware of existing patents or related technology than a patent examiner would be, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) requires applicants to disclose all prio

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What Is Trademark vs. Service Mark? 

A trademark offers legal protection for a symbol, logo, phrase, word, design, or name that represents goods or products. A service mark, or servicemark, offers similar protection for services. If your company sells an item or multiple items, you'd need to trademark the mark used to represent the business. If you have a company that provides a service, focus on the service mark.

Using TM in your mark represents trademark and SM represents service mark. Neither holds any legal significance. The only symbol that has legal weight is the registered symbol, represented by an encircled R.

In order to use the registered symbol, a business or individual must file an application with the United States Patent and

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Trademark Law: What Is It?

Trademark law is the set of laws and legal regulations that are set up to protect trademarks.

A trademark is a legal protection given to any word, name, symbol, or design that is used in commerce to identify the product of one manufacturer from another.

For example, the Nike Swoosh is a trademark that distinguishes it from other sports companies such as Reebok and Adidas. "Coca-Cola" is also a trademark that distinguishes the soda from other soda companies such as Pepsi.

All brands are entitled to trademark their brand and logo, as long as that mark isn't already in use by another company.

A trademark is also known as a service mark, collective mark, certification mark, or trade name.

Extension of Trademark Law

Trademarks aren't simply words and phrases anymore. The laws protecting trademarks or the trademark law has been extended to protect other parts of a company

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