Welcome to Trademark Law Radio, a top web resource on issues of trademark infringement, trademark licensing, trademark protection, and trademark registration.
This is Brian Hall, a trademark attorney with Traverse Legal, PLC, a trademark law firm specializing in representation of trademark owners throughout the world. Today, will be answering the question of how to trademark a logo, image or design.
When looking to acquire trademark registration for a logo, image or design, much of the same steps are followed as when you’re trying to acquire a trademark registration for a word or phrase. You first need to do a trademark availability assessment, sometimes known as a trademark clearance. This allows a trademark attorney to go out and see what has been registered and/or filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This is critically important in order to make sure that the logo, design or image that you are looking to register has not already been registered. And it’s important to recognize that it’s not only an exact replication that hasn’t been registered or applied for, but also something that is confusingly similar, which is the test for trademark infringement. Just as you can search for words to make sure that those haven’t been registered, there is a design manual that allows you to search for designs, images and logos to ensure that what you are applying for will entitle you to protection as a registered trademark.
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