Introduction
Trademarks are a type of intellectual property that protects words, phrases, and designs that businesses use to identify their products or services. Trademark registration is widely utilised in marketing and branding activities since it allows customers to distinguish one company from another.
A trademark safeguards the origin of your goods or services.
A trademark is a term, phrase, symbol, or design that identifies and distinguishes one supplier of products from another. To register your mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), you must first determine if the mark is eligible for registration under federal trademark laws.
Before filing an application for USPTO trademark filing, do a comprehensive check of all potentially conflicting marks.
A proposed mark must be “used in commerce” to be eligible for federal trademark protection. This means that it must be used as a source identification in the context of products or services.
To apply for a trademark, you must submit a trademark application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). It costs $275 to protect each kind of products and services. It will take about 6 months to process your application and send you your certificate.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is a federal body that handles trademark applications; they are in charge of examining all new trademarks submitted by customers like yourself.
The following stage in trademarking a name is to utilise it in interstate commerce. This implies you can’t limit it to sales inside your own state. However, you are not required to conduct business in all 50 states. For example, a person living in Maine who sells his books online through Amazon is regarded to be doing business over state borders since he utilises their website as part of the selling process (and they are headquartered in Seattle).
The third federal trademark criteria is that the mark not be functional or descriptive of the underlying products or services. In other words, if your product or service has a specific practical value (such as being waterproof), you cannot utilise a trademark to protect that feature of it since it is too near to identifying what makes them distinctive!
By registering your name with the USPTO, you can get a federal trademark for it.
You cannot trademark your name if you are a person. A business name or brand cannot also be trademarked if it is not being utilised for commercial reasons. If, on the other hand, you wish to protect your phrase or logo for use in advertising or marketing, these are called “marks” and are eligible for federal registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
A design can be registered as a trademark if it is both unique and non-functional, but a phrase must be short and creative to be considered intellectual property. When assessing whether or not an application is acceptable under federal law, the USPTO will consider it on a case-by-case basis.
Is it possible to trademark a personal name?
A personal name can be trademarked, but there are several considerations to consider.
A personal name can be trademarked by submitting a trademark application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
You may be eligible to register the mark on an Intent-to-Use basis if you are not utilising it in conjunction with products or services.
If your proposed mark is generic or descriptive of your products and services, the USPTO will not award you a trademark. For instance, if you run a dog grooming company and want to name it “This is likely to be refused since “dog grooming” explains what your firm does and is not distinctive enough to warrant trademark protection.
What are the prerequisites for trademarking a name?
It is not as straightforward as it seems to trademark a name. Before you can trademark it, you must have a business name or be intending to launch one in the near future. If you just wish to trademark your own name, there are certain restrictions on what you may do with that registered brand.
In order to register with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), you must first obtain a federal trademark. For example, if someone has already registered “Apple” too many times in his/her region and doesn’t want anyone else using it, this may apply to you as well if someone believes they’re “first” on their own version of apple pie—which would mean that no one else should ever be allowed to use any variation on the word “apple” again.”
When is it appropriate to trademark a name?
If you want to utilise your name as a brand for your company, product, or service, you should think about trademarking it. A trademark is a source sign that allows one person’s goods or services to be identified from those of another. Trademark protection grants you the exclusive right to use and register the name in connection with specified products or services—you cannot let another person to use the same mark if he offers identical items or services.
There are two primary reasons why someone might desire their own distinctive mark:
To safeguard their trademark against infringement (and vice versa)
to prohibit others in their business from utilising identical markings
If this seems like it may apply to you, here are some suggestions on what measures to do next:
You can trademark your name, but there are restrictions on what you may patent and when you can patent it.
It is feasible to trademark your company name if you own a firm and wish to protect its name. However, if all you desire is the right to use a certain term or phrase as your personal identification (for example, “Kim Kardashian”), this is not conceivable. Someone else would require permission from Kim Kardashian herself to use that term in conjunction with their own business or product—and as we all know by now, she is not known for her generosity!
Conclusion
US Trademark Filing is one option for protecting your name, but it is not the only one. A trademark can also be registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This allows you to prevent others from using your mark in interstate commerce, which is significant since it prevents individuals from selling things under your name without your permission.