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Trademark Overview
Disputes TM-it Services
A trademark includes any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. In short, a trademark is a brand name. To actually be protectable as a trademark the word or symbol must fulfill three basic criteria:
A service mark is any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce, to identify and distinguish the services of one provider from services provided by others, and to indicate the source of the services. What do the different symbols refer to? The federal registration symbol ® may be used once the mark is actually registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office. Use of the symbols "TM" or "SM" are for trademark and service mark, respectively. Is a federal registration valid outside the United States? No. Certain countries, however, do recognize a United States registration as a basis for registering the mark in those countries. Many countries maintain a register of trademarks. Keep in mind that the Internet is changing international trademark boundaries. By adding your trademarks, you are being proactive in minimizing the potential cost of international litigation. What
are common law rights? Do I need to register my trademark with the PTO? No. You should use the "TM" or "SM' designation to indicate that your brand name/slogan belongs to you. The use of TM is a way of informing the world that you have (or you think you have) a protectable trademark. What are the benefits of trademarks?
What is the difference between generic, online name, and domain name trademarks? An "Online Name" is your identity as a registered user on an auction site or a provider of consulting services on sites like keen.com or Yahoo.com. A domain name is the your personal or business identity online. All other types of trademarks would be considered "generic."
Anything vital to your company's identity should be trademarked. Acid test: Would the other person/company's use lead to confusion in the mind of your consumer as to where the product or service comes from? Or is your mark so famous that an interloper might be looking for a "free ride"?
Copyright law protects literary and artistic works by giving copyright holders the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute or perform. For example, software code can be protected by copyright. However, copyright registration (http://www.loc.gov/copyright) is optional: all works covered by the law have copyright protection for the author's life plus 70 years. Acid test: Is the thing I'm trying to protect covered under copyright law? Your site's content is protected by copyright law automatically. However, you should reinforce your ownership by placing the © logo after online content, perhaps adding "all rights reserved." This tells others they can't simply use or reword original content without permission. Dispute How do I contest someone else using a trademark similar to mine? There are several ways to dispute use of your trademark (registered and common law) by a third party. Depending on the factual situation, the Trademark Office may or may not be the proper forum. You should consider contacting an attorney, preferably one specializing in trademark law. Local bar associations and the yellow pages usually have attorney listings broken down by specialties. Time can be of the essence.
TM-it Services Why Should I Protect Name Value?Names you use in commerce are very valuable assets that you need to protect. A domain name is sometimes used as an Online Name identifying a registered user of an i-mall or auction. However, keep in mind that a domain name in itself does not automatically confer a trademark on the domain name. The trademark has to be used in commerce to qualify as common-law trademark (TM). Protection of your domain name is even more important if it does not end with dot-com, which suggests that someone else registered the same name ahead of you. (Typically, dot-net and dot-org are registered when the dot-com has already been registered.) Moreover, if you are a registered user on an auction site or provide consulting services on sites like keen.com, you need to protect your Online Name, which is your online identity. You don't want others to be using your identity on another site. Using an Online Name in commerce gives you the right to register it as a Trademark. However, as noted below, registered trademarks (R) have a number of limitations over the TM-it database. What Do We Offer You?By adding your mark to the TM-it™ database, you will have an online record of your common-law trademark (TM). Thus, if there is any dispute about your TM, you have proof that you were using it in commerce at least as of the date it was submitted to us, and that there were no "similar" marks being used online, which, as noted above, are two major criteria for a phrase/word to qualify for a protectable trademark. How Does TM-It ™ Authenticate Your TM?When you submit your request to add your trademark to the TM-it database, we require that you provide the URL where the mark appears. Our robot checks the existence of the information on the specified site. We search for the marks in:
The following information is also maintained with the authentication record:
Upon verifying the information, we email you a confirmation and automatically add your trademark to the database with the date when the mark information was authenticated. How Can I Protect A Mark That Appears In A Graphic Image Format? Since machines cannot read the content of a graphic image, our software automatically searches for marks in the <title> meta-tag. We have also created a special meta-tag for this purpose to be places in the html page where the mark appears. Use the format below, with all marks separated by a ",". <meta name="TM-it" content="Your Mark 1, Your Mark 2"> How Does TM-It Treat Macromedia's Flash Websites? In general, contents of websites designed in Flash can only be viewed, but cannot be read by machines. We have adopted the same solution as that for a graphic image format. Obviously, these meta-tags should be places in your site's main html file. How Much Does It Cost?There a US$ 20 fee for the first 10 marks, and US$ 10 for each additional. What Are Some Advantages of TM-it Database vs. USPTO? The TM-itTM database complements the database of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) by overcoming some of it's major limitations. |
| Limitations of US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Web database | Advantage of TM-it database |
| The database contains only those trademarks that are Federally registered or that are pending (applications undergoing examination at the PTO). | The marks don't have to be Federally registered. International marks are also accepted. |
| It does not contain any information on state, non-U.S., or US common law trademarks. | The database is open to all marks. |
| The Web database does not include information on inactive applications and registrations (i.e., abandoned applications or canceled or expired registrations). Since it is possible for inactive applications or registrations to be “revived” or “reinstated,” active marks that may present possible conflicts with your mark will not be retrieved if they have temporarily fallen into an “inactive” status. | Information will be provided on abandoned and expired marks. |
| The PTO’s trademark data on the Web is updated on a two-month cycle. Coupled with the time required for data production, this means that particular trademarks could be as much as four months out of sequence with the PTO’s internal trademark database. | TM-it adds marks automatically to the TM-it database. |
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