Signature Registration on the Additional Register
Most people are aware of the numerous benefits of owning a trademark registration on the Principal Register for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In fact, trademark owners are urged by trademark attorneys to select distinctive marks solution to to be able to, upon used interstate commerce, be registered there and enjoy numerous presumptions since validity, ownership, and notice. However, the Supplemental Register also provides value, especially as soon as the alternative is out of the question the first time.
Before the benefits of being supplementally registered is discussed, advised that you understand that which a supplemental registration does not provide. Marks occasionally 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 supply of the services or goods to which the objective pertains. Such placement does not pay the exclusive right to use the mark in commerce in expertise of its identified goods or services. Equally important, it does not serve as prima facie evidence of the validity of the registered mark or of the trademark registrant’s ownership of the mark. Finally, it may be 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 great things about its own. In fact, some entities choose to possess a Online Brand Name Registration India that tells consumers what is usually they are offering (e.g. Pizza Restaurant) as opposed a good inherently distinctive mark (.e.g. Domino’s) that needs effort to create consumer recognition. Such marks are not going to warrant principal placement, though 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 take benefit from certain international agreements.
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 probably a merely descriptive mark at the outset or did not acquire the requisite distinctiveness to be registered on where many deem as favored spot.
