WHAT IS A TRADEMARK?
A trademark is a term, symbol or emblem, which identifies goods as coming from a particular manufacturer or distributor. The owner of a trademark may prohibit others from using his trademark, or other trademarks, which may be confusingly similar to his trademark. Trademarks protect the purchaser form being deceived as to the source of goods, which he buys. The trademark protects the good will and reputation of the owner of the trademark.

Service marks are similar to trademarks except that they are used designate the origin of services rather than of products. An ultimate right of a trademark or service mark is obtained by using the mark on goods or in connection with services in the marketplace, followed by registration.

Since the choice and protection of trademarks involves meeting various legal requirements, a patent attorney familiar with trademark and service mark law should be consulted before a mark is adopted. It is recommended that research be conducted to determine the availability of the term that one desires to use as a trademark or service mark, prior to its official adoption by the business entity, in order to avoid infringing upon the rights of others.

After goods or services bearing a mark with the designation ™ next to the mark, have been shipped or sold in interstate or foreign commerce, or in the case of services, offered in commerce controlled by Congress, the mark may be registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by filing an application and prosecuting the application with the USPTO.

In the alternative, a two-stage process can be employed. If the intended user has a bona fide good faith intent to use a trademark or service mark across state lines,, an application for registration can also be filed, along with such a declaration of intended use. After actual use, the procedure to obtain a registration can be completed by the submission of paperwork attesting to the recent actual use of the mark in commerce subject to regulation by congress.

The owner of the mark may place the familiar abbreviated "Reg. U.S. Pat. Off." or ® near his trademark, only after the mark is federally registered. Once the trademark application has been successfully prosecuted to a registration, it will be necessary to file additional paperwork between the 5th and 6th years of actual use, to retain one's rights. Patent and trademark attorneys customarily offer the services required to file an application, prosecute it successfully to registration, and then maintain it.