If you’re selling body scrubs in Tallahassee under the brand name “Brown Sugar” with a sweet logo to match and that Modesto company’s Brown Sugar company has the same name and a similar logo but is selling sugar, you don’t have the same protections. There is one caveat: Your trademark is only protected against companies that are offering products or services similar to yours. With a registered trademark, these rights are in effect whether or not your logo includes a trademark symbol (®). When you register your trademark with the USPTO, you broaden your legal rights, allowing you exclusive rights over your trademark throughout the entire United States (international rights are also available via a more extensive application). If you’re operating in Tallahassee, Florida and a business like yours in Modesto, California happens to use the same name or trademark, you aren’t protected.Ī registered trademark is a different story. Here’s the catch: While you have some legal rights associated with an unregistered trademark, they’re limited to the geographic area in which you do business.
The minute you create and begin using any type of the above-mentioned intellectual property in representation of your goods and services (i.e., commercial pursuits), it’s technically your trademark, or your “mark” relating to your “trade.” Such trademarks are considered “common law trademarks.” Notice the organization didn’t mention anything about trademark registration? That’s because you don’t need to register your trademark for it to be in effect. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) defines a trademark as “any word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these things that identifies your goods or services.” The USPTO goes on to say that a trademark “provides legal protection for your brand” and “helps you guard against counterfeiting and fraud.”
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