Trademark Services

Logos, designs, symbols, words, phrases, or sounds are marketing tools people associate with products. Trademark protection is often a vital aspect of branding and effective advertising. Trademark registration may be a significant step toward achieving company marketing goals. Kang Intellectual Property Law, LLC provides the following trademark services:

If you have a new product or service, and are considering using a trademark, it is important to devise a mark that is not already in use or that could not be confused with existing marks for similar products or services. Perhaps your current trademark is not as effective as you had hoped, and to maximize your profits, you would like to devise a new one.

Whatever your reason for needing a trademark, our attorneys work closely with you to understand your business objectives, analyze competitive markets, and help you determine whether a trademark can benefit and serve your needs.

We can assist you with trademark prosecution in the U.S. or in other countries. The U.S. government office that evaluates and registers trademarks is called the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

USPTO procedure

• Trademark applications are drafted and submitted for the following situations:
• You intend to release a new product or service that does not yet exist in commercial markets.
• You have an existing commercial use of a trademark or service mark that you want to register.
• You want to change the mark for an existing product or service and register the new mark.

Basic USPTO procedure for prosecution of a trademark involves:

• Preparation and filing the trademark application with the USPTO (along with submission of fees).
• USPTO examiner review of the trademark application.
• Approval or denial of the application. If your application is refused, reasons are provided for the rejection. If only minor corrections are required, the examiner may phone or email us. If there are substantial reasons for rejection, a letter called an Office action will be mailed.
• Response to an Office action must be received by the USPTO office within six months of the mailing date of the Office action, or the trademark application will be considered abandoned.
• If an impasse is reached even though responses containing corrections are made, the USPTO attorney will issue a final refusal.
• Your lawyer can appeal to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to overcome a final refusal.
• Once your trademark application is allowed, if your trademark is not already in use, it must be put into use within the following six months. Once in use, the USPTO issues federal registration which grants trademark ownership rights.

Advantages of a registered trademark

According to the USPTO, a registered trademark offers the following advantages:

• Constructive notice to the public of the registrant's claim of ownership of the mark
• A legal presumption of the registrant's ownership of the mark and the registrant's exclusive right to use the mark nationwide on or in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the registration
• The ability to bring an action concerning the mark in federal court
• The use of the U.S registration as a basis to obtain registration in foreign countries
• The ability to file the U.S. registration with the U.S. Customs Service to prevent importation of infringing foreign goods

For a free consultation to discuss whether it would benefit your business to have a registered trademark, call our Missouri law firm at 636-390-8103 or contact us online.