A trademark is a word, phrase, or logo that identifies the source of goods or services. [1] Trademark law protects a business' commercial identity or brand by discouraging other businesses from adopting a name or logo that is "confusingly similar" to an existing trademark. The goal is to allow consumers to easily identify the producers of goods and services and avoid confusion.
United States trademark law is mainly governed by the Lanham Act. “Common law” trademark rights are acquired automatically when a business uses a name or logo in commerce, and are enforceable in state courts. Marks registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are given a higher degree of protection in federal courts than ...
An Introduction to Trademark Law in the United States Trademarks are a form of intellectual property that serve to identify the sources of goods. Trademarks have attracted renewed attention since the U.S. Supreme Court decided two cases regarding the main federal trademark law, the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051 et seq., in June 2023 and
IP includes copyrightable creative works as soon as an author fixes their work in a tangible form of expression. IP also includes inventions protected by patents, brands protected by trademarks, and commercially valuable information protected under trade secret law. Interested in learning more about different types of IP?
Trademark Federal Statutes and Rules January 2025 Warning: The information provided on this webpage is not the official legal publication of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), United States Code (U.S. Code), and/or Congressional material.
Federal Statutes. Trademark Laws are contained in the United States Code (U.S.C.) Title 15, Chapter 22.For more information on researching U.S. statutory law, see Georgetown Law Library's Statutes Research Guide or the Statutory Research Tutorial.The U.S. Primary Sources research guide provides a list of locations for statutes, case law, and regulations.
(e) Lever-rule protection. For owners of U.S. trademarks who desire protection against gray market articles on the basis of physical and material differences (see Lever Bros. Co. v. United States, 981 F.2d 1330 (D.C. Cir. 1993)), a description of any physical and material difference between the specific articles authorized for importation or sale in the United States and those not so authorized.
Such marks are called “common law” trade marks. Though there are minor differences, a plaintiff can enforce common law trade marks to virtually the same extent that federally registered trade marks can be enforced in state or federal court, so long as it can show continuous “trade mark” use of the mark throughout the United States.
An Introduction to Trademark Law in the United States. CRS PRODUCT (LIBRARY OF CONGRESS) Hide Overview . CRS Product Type: In Focus: Referenced Legislation: P.L.116-260: Topics: Commerce & Small Business; Law, Constitution & Civil Liberties ... provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as ...
In other words, trademarks make it easier for consumers to quickly identify the source of a given good, and trademark law furthers this goal by regulating their proper use. In the late 1800s, the U.S. Congress enacted the first federal trademark law, which became the foundation for current law.
Trademark Law: Rules of Practice in Trademark Cases, 37 C.F.R. 2 et seq. & Federal Statues; Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051 et seq. & Patent Act, 35 U.S.C. Part 1 (Consolidated Trademark Law and Regulation as of July 11, 2015) (US384)
U.S. Regulations relating to trademarks; Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP) (from October 2015) Summary of Trademark Law. Trademark law governs the use of a device (including a word, phrase, symbol, product shape, or logo) by a manufacturer or merchant to identify its goods and to distinguish those goods from those made or sold by ...
United States Constitution: Under Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, otherwise known as the Commerce Clause, the U.S. Congress has the power to regulate commerce.This serves as the constitutional foundation of trademark law in the U.S. Trademark Act of 1946: Also known as the Lanham Act, the Trademark Act of 1946 is the primary federal statutory law that governs trademark ...
The United States trademark law is primarily governed by the Lanham Act, which defines federal trademark protection and trademark registration rules. The Lanham Act gives a seller or producer the exclusive right to register a trademark and prevent competitors from using it. Trademark protection depends on use in commerce, not registration.
§ 2.190 Addresses for trademark correspondence with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. § 2.191 Action of the Office based on the written record. § 2.192 Business to be conducted with decorum and courtesy. § 2.193 Trademark correspondence and signature requirements. § 2.194 Identification of trademark application or registration.
Registering your first trademark can be one of the most important moments in the life of a small business owner.. When you first register your brand's unique mark and name with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), you gain numerous legal protections which can help you safeguard your business in the future.. In this article, we'll cover almost every aspect of U.S. trademark law that ...
I. Introduction On December 27, 2020, the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (“TMA”) became law after it passed Congress and was signed by the President as part of the year-end Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2021.1 With the issuance of implementing regulations for the TMA by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) on November 17, 2021,2 many—but ...
