Choose An Experienced Trademark
Attorney The
responsibilities of a trademark attorney include advising on the
adoption and selection of new trademarks; filing and prosecuting
applications to register trademarks; advising on the use and
registration of trademarks; handling trademark oppositions,
revocations, invalidations and assignments; and advising on
trademark infringement matters.
Because patents, trademarks and
copyrights all fall under the broad area of intellectual property
law, if you plan on obtaining a trademark, patent or copyright it is
is in your best interest to consult with a qualified trademark attorney, patent attorney or copyright lawyer to help you properly file
for protection of your intellectual property. If you plan on
licensing someone else's copyright, trademark, patent or other form
of intellectual property, a trademark attorney can assure that
everyone's legal rights are protected under intellectual property
law.
Find a trademark attorney that's
right for you and your situation.
Because registering a trademark requires
extensive knowledge of trademark law and procedures it is highly
recommended that you use the trademark services of a trademark
attorney. A trademark attorney can advise you on many aspects of
your trademark filing and on trademark services. A trademark attorney should be used when choosing
a product name trademark or a trademark slogan. Ideally, your
trademark attorney would order a trademark search report. Your
trademark attorney should then counsel you on the results of the
trademark search and whether it is safe to proceed with using the
proposed mark. He should also counsel you on any questions you may
have, such as how to get a trademark, the cost to register a
trademark and how to trademark a logo or trademark slogan.
In sum, a trademark attorney will be able
to counsel you on all facets of registering a trademark and
trademark filing. You may be able to learn about trademark cost,
trademark searching, an online trademark search, and the steps to
get a trademark by reviewing our trademark faq.
Additionally, a trademark attorney can
advise you on how to handle certain situations such as receiving a
cease and desist letter. A cease and desist letter is written when a
party believes their trademark is being infringed upon. A cease and
desist letter must be evaluated by a trademark attorney who will
provide you with trademark assistance.
Yet
how should you choose a trademark attorney? To begin with, never
pick your trademark attorney based solely upon a lawyer referral
service or advertising. Lawyer referral services generally do not
evaluate the abilities of the attorneys in their listings, but
simply accept any attorney willing to pay the membership dues of
that referral service. The referral service then refers clients to
these "trademark attorneys" on a rotating basis. It is almost always
the attorney's own subjective determination that he or she is a
"trademark attorney," yet this attorney may have little experience
and knowledge of trademark law.
Advertising is also a poor
method for finding a trademark lawyer. Many trademark lawyers who
extensively advertise run their practices like factories, with
impersonal service and an army of paralegals preparing your
trademark application. Instead, try to find a trademark attorney who
provides individual attention to your trademark matters, including
every aspect of trademark searching and trademark
filing.
If you like a certain
phrase or logo but you aren't ready to use it, you may be able to
reserve it for future use, which keeps someone else from taking it.
You can acquire rights to the trademark
by filing an "intent-to-use" (ITU) trademark registration
application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as
long as someone else hasn't actually started using the trademark.
However, even if you file an intent-to-use trademark application,
the mark will not actually be registered until it is used in
commerce.
A trademark attorney is often regulated
as a profession, in which case they must pass a series of examinations,
comply with other requirements, and observe professional ethics and
standards in order to maintain formal registration as a trademark
attorney. Gust A. Lenglet has been
an accountant and financial advisor for many years. He is President
and CEO of HBS Financial Group, Ltd. and offers online tax
filing through his many web
sites. He is also an accomplished author in the tax, legal, and
education fields.
|
