Benefits to Federally Registering a Trademark
- Notice of the date of first use
- filing date of the registration application gives the public notice about the use of the trademark
- establishes a priority date for determining who was the first to use it
- establishes evidence of ownership
- Right to sue in federal court
- entity who registers a trademark with the USPTO has the right to sue infringers in federal court
- have the right to recover damages and costs associated with an infringement lawsuit
- may be able to recover attorney’s fees
- Limited ways to challenge the trademark
- After 5 years of registration
- trademark can use the federal registration symbol
- A person violates federal law if he or she uses this symbol on a trademark that is not federally registered