Common law trademark

Let the Professionals File Your Trademark Today! Get Your 1-on-Legal Consultation. Register your name or logo online in just minutes.

And you can only enforce a common law trademark in the geographic area where the trademark is used. For example, if you sell a product only in southern California, your common law trademark may prevent another business from selling. The term common law indicates that the trademark rights that are developed through use are not governed by statute.

Instea common law trademark rights have been developed under a judicially created scheme of rights governed by state law. Common Law Trademark Infringement. They extend to whomever can prove first actual usage in commerce. Signifies common law trademark rights.

Businesses automatically receive common law trademark rights by using a brand name or logo in the normal course of commerce. With this article, our main aim is to understand what common law trademark search is all about and how to do it. Search in the USPTO Database Searching for your mark in the USPTO database,. COMMON LAW TRADEMARK RIGHTS.

Only Steps - File in Minutes!

Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), it is not required in order to have trademark rights. You can be sued for infringement by someone who has common law trademark rights. Two of these exceptions include the Lanham Act and the Natural Expansion Doctrine. The first exception allows a common law mark owner to automatically expand his zone of protection by federally registering his mark, thereby gaining territorial protection throughout the U. These are called common law trademark rights.

However, you get many important benefits by registering your trademark with the U. One key difference is that common law rights only extend to the geographic area where you are using your trademark in commerce. A company with a mark that has not been registered still has the ability to prevail in a trademark suit, though this ability is more limited than a company with a registered mark. A company can have common law rights in a mark if it can demonstrate “actual and continuous use in commerce. As a common law trademark becomes known and goodwill is associated with it, the owner of the mark will be able to assert claims against others who use confusing trademarks in the specific region or area where the common law trademark owner has built up goodwill. The main limits on a common law trademark are based on geography.

While a federally registered trademark protects you from infringement from anywhere in the U. In most cases, this means the community or city where your business is located. The word “unregistered” implies that the property is in commercial use before its federal registration. A common law trademark (or “unregistered trademark”) is a type of protection against infringement for intellectual property. A descriptive mark, as is at issue here, is the weakest protectable mark and requires proof that the mark has acquired secondary meaning. This is where things get complicated.

There are few countries where unregistere or so called common - law trademarks, are given some limited protection. United Kingdom and few others.

Under state common law , trademarks are protected as part of the law of unfair competition. State statutes vary, but most states have either adopted a version of the Model Trademark Bill (MTB), which provides for trademark registration, or the Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act (UDTPA), which does not. Plaintiff is the senior user of the mark US LEGAL.