How to Select the Right Trademark for Your Brand

Choosing a trademark can be one of the most exciting parts about building your business. Your trademark should represent your brand and identify your company as the source of your brand’s goods or services. It is important to choose a strong trademark which will offer greater protectability and less risk to potential infringements and challenges.…

What Happens if My Trademark Contains a Name, Signature, or Portrait?

*The information for this blog can be found here.   If your mark includes a name, portrait, or signature that is of a living individual and you want to register the mark at the USPTO, you must provide the USPTO certain information regarding that individual. The USPTO requires: A statement that the name, portrait, or…

Specimens in Statement of Use Applications

We receive SO many questions about specimens. When do I submit one? How do I submit one? What type of specimen? And even, what is a specimen? Have no fear! Let’s break it down. Taken from the USPTO website: a specimen is a sample of how you actually use the mark in commerce on your…

USPTO: What does it do?

We get a lot, I mean A LOT, of questions about the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and trademark legal stuff in general. So, if reading blogs about trademarks is not your thing, then you might want to skip our next couple blogs. The USPTO only: Reviews trademark applications and determines if the…

Trademark Registration: Standard Application vs. Intent to Use Application

USPTO Trademark Registration The difference between a standard trademark application versus an Intent to Use application. We always get a lot of questions regarding trademarks, about the registration process, and the different types of trademark applications. Watch the video to learn more about the USPTO and how to register trademarks.         Contact…

Is incontestability contestable?

  Trademark Series: Part 2 In Part 1 of our trademark blog series (click here), we discussed the status of incontestability in trademark law. Incontestability seems like a sure thing- the registrant has exclusive right to use the registered mark in commerce. But, with all things legal, there are exceptions. Many people hear the word…

What’s on your label?

Label requirements can be tricky-different rules apply to different states. Domestic beverages and imported beverages have different guidelines. The purpose of this blog is to clear up some of the confusion surrounding beer labels. For all intent and purposes I will focus on North Carolina rules since that is what I am most familiar with.…