Application Process to register for a federal trademark

Trademark is a frequently used word amongst the business fraternity. A trademark brings a lot of benefits to an entrepreneur. You are bound to come across many opportunities if you have a trademark registered through the federal registration procedure.

Few of the many benefits that come up with trademark registration through federal registration are as follows:

• You are entitled to legitimate rights subsequent to proceedings related to trademarks.
• With the help of a "Constructive Notice" you are able to let others know the trademark is exclusive property.
• The trademark right is not confined to sate or common laws rather it provides countrywide protection from any kind of infringement.
• On federal registration the prospects to get your trademark registered for various products and services is available whereas some state laws limit the registration to few products & services in a particular area.
• On completion of 5 years with federal registration your trademark becomes "indisputable".

Now that we are all aware of a few benefits of federal registration of trademark the next logical step is to understand the process to get registered.

An applicant should provide with the following:

A properly filled Application form: the application form provided should be duly read and the information asked for in the form should be properly filled to the best of your knowledge to avoid any problems in future which may arise due to wrong disclosure of information.
The trademark should be provided in the form of a well prepared illustration on a piece of plain paper.
Registration Fees: there is registration fee charged on the registration of trademark depending upon the nature of product or services being registered. Incase there is any surcharged levied on the product that should be duly paid off too. All the payments can be made through check or money order favoring the " Assistant Commissioner For Trademarks"

The application may be submitted at the office of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or a much easier way to file the application is to do it online through the office's website.

On submission of the application USPTO then issues the filed trademark for federal trademark registration. In this process the public is being informed that the following trademark is being evaluated. This helps to notify the people and call for their objection if they have any.

The rules are standard of USPTO to approve a trademark and does reconsider an application if contains any of the following points:

Names of Individuals: the application may get stuck if the trademark has the name of a living individual with the person's permission.
If the trademark uses terms or signs that use or names of people, principle or national symbols or even institutions.
Signs used by government institutions.
Application using names of late US Presidents; applications should have permission of the widow.
The flag OF USA.
Immoral and disgraceful trademarks are not honoured by USPTO.

For an approved application the above-mentioned point should be avoided.

If there is no objectionable content in the application the examiner continues to evaluate the application based on the following criteria:

The nature of the good or service and the way it has been described by the applicant.

The distinction of the mark with other similar marks.

Once a filed application trademark faces no objection then the finalization process may take up to 2-3 months. On finalization a certificate of registration is provided which entitle you to use your trademark. A circle with an R inside ® is the registered trademark symbol.

The preliminary life of a trademark is of 10 years and in order to continue the same trademark there is update to be made by the 5th or 6th year.

An attorney specializing in federal trademark registration process can help you with the filing and other processes of the registration.