The 5 Step Process For Trademark Registration
In this quick post, l will quickly share with you the 5 step process that you need to follow in order to file for a trademark.
After reading this article, you'll be in a better position to go out there & file your own trademark i.e. using the steps shared in this article.
Thus, read till the very end if you want to learn more about this process.
Steps Involved:
Without further ado, let me jump straight into more detail.
1. Figure Out What You Want To Trademark
The first crucial step is to figure out what you want to trademark i.e. is it a brand name, logo, or tag line.
There are many business elements that you can trademark – thus, it's important to clearly define what exactly you want to trademark.
2. Find Out If It's Trademark-able
Once you've defined what you want to trademark, the next step is to find out if that business element is trademark-able.
In order to get this data, you need to visit relevant databases i.e. depending on your country.
And the beauty part is that, you can access this information online – since it's now made accessible online to the general public.
However, you might need an expert to help you in interpreting the data – because there's many factors that comes into play when it comes to trademarks.
But assuming that your proposed business element is trademark-able, you should move on to the next step – which is filing a trademark application.
3. File Your Trademark Application
The next step is filing your trademark application (the actual process).
There are many platforms that can be used to file for a trademark i.e. depending on your location.
But if you're in the US, you can visit a site called www.uspto.gov – which is a site owned and managed by the Trademarks Office.
Simply fill out the required details i.e. what's being trademarked, who owns it, date of trademark, type of goods/services protected by the trademark, etc.
Once you've completed the forms, simply submit them for review.
4. Follow Up
Assuming that you've submitted your application, what's next?
Should you wait and relax – waiting for them to get approved?
That's not the case.
You need to do some follow ups – so as to speed up the approval process.
As with most government applications, trademark application also takes time – and if you don't do some follow ups, your application might take forever to get approved.
Thus, it's important to always follow up your documents – so as to speed up the process.
5. Finalize
Assuming that your application gets approved, it's now high time to finalize it in order to make it ‘perfect'.
However, if it was unsuccessful, you'll be given a letter which states all the objections as to why your application was rejected.
If you work on addressing the highlighted issues, you can resubmit your application in the near future for another review.
And that's the case with most applications i.e. they get rejected during the first encounter – but once the applicant addresses the objections, they'll get approved.
Thus, if you’re unsuccessful during the first try, don't give up i.e. keep working on your documents and resubmit them.
NB: In some cases, your trademark might be published in the press, journals, newsletters, etc. – for public opposition.
This gives room for the general public & other stakeholders to give their opinions on your trademark.
For example, if another business owner thinks that your trademark violates theirs, they can raise some queries to relevant authorities.
This mainly happens with big brands who're very protective of their logos and other trademarked items.
But in the case of small brands, they don't have the time to keep eyeing who's trying to copy their trademarks – because they're busy with other business tasks – and also, they can't keep track of the bazillion trademarks that gets registered on a daily basis.
Wrapping Up
So that's the 5 step process that you need to take in order to register for a trademark.
If you follow these steps, you can do this process on your own i.e. without having to hire an expensive attorney.
But if you have the funds to hire an expert, you can hire one – so as to make the process more simpler and faster.
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