Why register your trademark?

In the United States, trademark rights are based on use. The first person to use a mark in commerce generally has rights over secondary users. In almost every other country in the world, trademark rights are determined by the first person to file a trademark application. What this means for you and your business is that you do not have to register your trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. But you should and here’s why.

First, legitimate use of your mark gives notice to others of your claim of ownership of your trademark or service mark. This is important because if another person uses your mark and you sue them for infringement, then they cannot claim they didn’t know about your mark; all they had to do was look it up online. Second, registration of your mark gives you the exclusive right to use your mark nationwide in connection with the goods or services listed in your registration. The United States is large and includes hundreds of thousands of businesses. A registration gives you the exclusive right to use your mark throughout the U.S., which means that you can exclude others from using an identical or similar mark. Third, a registration is a prerequisite to suing alleged infringers in federal court. The advantages of suing in federal court are beyond the scope of this post, but they can be very important.

In the next post, I’ll discuss the importance of choosing your trademark carefully.