The battle to protect your trademark does not end with trademark registration. Once registered, it is important that you vigilantly protect your trademark or risk losing the trademark’s protected status. The better the brand name, the easier it will be to protect it from unlawful use by others.
Protection begins with your own use of the mark. In order to maintain a federal registration, you have to actually use your mark in commerce. You cannot just register it and keep it for possible future use. If you don’t use it, a third party (e.g. a competitor that thinks you came up with a great brand name and wants to use it for their own products) can seek to cancel your registration for non-use. It is important that you not only continue to use your trademark, but that you use it properly.
Additionally, certain documents must be filed periodically with the Patent and Trademark Office to maintain a trademark registration. These documents essentially provide a mechanism of proof to the Patent and Trademark Office that you have been continuing to use the trademark in commerce. If a deadline for filing a maintenance document passes, you will lose your registration. If you buy or sell a trademark (e.g. pursuant to the sale of a business) or grant or take a security interest in a trademark, you should update the ownership records with the Patent and Trademark Office. It is important to keep the contact information up to date. However, the Patent and Trademark Office will not send you reminders about filing deadlines.
It is also important that you prohibit others from using your trademark improperly and without your consent. You should actively pursue any third parties who infringe your trademarks. Sometimes you will find out about an infringement in an ordinary Google search or because one of your customers tells you that they found a competitor’s website when they were looking for yours. However, there are trademark watching services that will send you notices about potentially infringing marks. If you have a valuable trademark that is frequently infringed, a watchdog service may be a worthwhile investment.
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