Patent Trademark Application With Prejudice In Illinois
Description
Form popularity
FAQ
Strong trademarks are suggestive, fanciful, or arbitrary. Weak trademarks are descriptive or generic. Think about them this way. You want your trademark to be strong or “hot,” as opposed to weak or “cold.”
How to patent a phrase for a t-shirt? You cannot patent a phrase! Patents are used to protect inventions and novel and non-obvious processes, machines, or compositions of matter. Phrases, on the other hand, typically fall under trademark protection.
Trademark/Servicemark Publications/Forms Form NumberForm NameFee TM/SM 15 Trademark or Servicemark Application $10 TM/SM 30 Trademark or Servicemark Renewal Application $5 TM/SM 35a Trademark or Servicemark Assignment Application $5 TM/SM 35b Trademark or Servicemark Application for Change of Name and/or Address of Registrant $51 more row
The first is Genericide, a term used when a brand name has become so widely used that it becomes synonymous with a general class of product or service, causing the trademark to lose its distinctiveness. For example, 'Band-Aid' often being used to refer to any adhesive bandage is an instance of genericide.
If a trademark misdescribes a quality, purpose, function, feature, characteristic, ingredient, or use of the goods or services, and the misrepresentation would be credible or plausible to consumer, the mark would be refused as deceptively misdescriptive.
Nowadays, nearly half (48.3%) of all trademark applications filed in the US with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) are rejected.
Likelihood of confusion is a common reason for refusal of a trademark application. The USPTO will review your application and compare your mark to any existing trademark applications or registered trademarks.
When you register a word mark, the focus is on protecting the distinctive textual content of the mark itself, rather than the case sensitivity. This means that trademarks are typically considered to cover all variations of capitalization, including all uppercase, all lowercase, or a mix of both.
The most important limitation lies in what can be trademarked. While the possibilities are nearly limitless, trademarks may not protect IP that is functional, without territorial restrictions, subject to fair use, or distributed downstream after a sale by the IP owner.
Trademark/Servicemark searches also are available by calling the Department of Business Services' Trademark/Servicemark Division at 217-524-0400. To obtain a certified copy of any file, send a written request Rm. 330 Howlett Bldg., Springfield, IL 62756.
