Logo Registration on the Additional Register
Most people understand of the numerous benefits of owning a trademark registration on the Principal Register belonging to the United States Patent and Online Trademark Filing in India Office (USPTO). In fact, trademark owners are urged by trademark attorneys to select distinctive marks to become to be able to, upon inside interstate commerce, be registered there and have numerous presumptions because validity, ownership, and notice. However, the Supplemental Register also provides value, especially as soon as the alternative is out of the question initially.
Before the benefits associated with being supplementally registered is discussed, it is important to understand that that your supplemental registration does not provide. Marks tend to be relegated to the Supplemental Register because, at the request of the USPTO examining attorney, the marks are merely descriptive and therefore not a distinctive identifier of the source of the services or goods to which the objective pertains. Such placement does not spend the money for exclusive right added with the mark in commerce in a connection with its identified goods or services. Equally important, it does not serve as prima facie evidence belonging to the validity of the registered mark or of the trademark registrant’s ownership of this mark. Finally, it’s an admission that the mark is not inherently distinctive.
While these drawbacks obviously warrant a mark owner’s desire to be registered on the main Register, a supplemental registration has advantages of its own. In fact, some entities choose to possess a brand that tells consumers what is usually they are offering (e.g. Pizza Restaurant) as opposed with regard to an inherently distinctive mark (.e.g. Domino’s) that needs effort to create consumer recognition. Such marks are not going to warrant principal placement, whilst they be supplementally outlined. After five years on the Supplemental Register, the mark may qualify for the key Register due with out having acquired distinctiveness. It is worth noting that both allow the owner to use the registered trademark symbol, sue in federal court, and leverage on certain international treaties.
Thus, any registration with the USPTO is better than having no trademark registration at everything. While ultimately the Principal Register provides the best results and best protection, the Supplemental Register should be considered where an entity prefers what is likely to be a merely descriptive mark at the outset or did not acquire the requisite distinctiveness to be registered on where many deem as favored spot.
