Where do I go to Trademark a phrase and how much does it cost?  Is it feasible?

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Request for Question Clarification by easterangel-ga on 02 Aug 2004 02:43 PDT

Hi!

In what country are you going to apply for the trademark?

Thanks!

Hi, thank you for asking Google Answers.

Yes, you can trademark a word or phrase in the U.S. quite easily. For
example, you may have seen recent TV ads where one camera maker claims
it is ?The Official Digital Camera of The Internet.?

Actually, there is no such thing, but they trademarked the phrase.

Donald Trump is currently trying to trademark ?You?re fired.?

That doesn't mean you can't use the phrase in a document, but you
can't produce T-shirts and other logo items with the phrase if he
succeeds.

To establish a trademark you can go to the US Patent and Trademark Office Web Site:
http://www.uspto.gov/

There you can search for trademarks currently in effect and apply for yours.

http://www.uspto.gov/teas/index.html

You can charge the application fee to a credit card or make an electronic transfer.

The filing fee should be $ 335.00 and will probably be non-refundable
so don't skip the step of checking if the phrase is already
registered.

You can also trademark anything not already trademarked by merely
using it that way, this is similar to copyright which you gain by
merely publishing something, but this is a guide to gaining an
official "registered" trademark.

?The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office uses this definition for trademark:
"A TRADEMARK is either a word, phrase, symbol or design, or
combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, which identifies
and distinguishes the source of the goods or services of one party
from those of others. A service mark is the same as a trademark except
that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather
than a product." Furthermore, "a mark for goods appears on the product
or on its packaging, while a service mark appears in advertising for
the services."

Whether this is a good idea or not depends on what you want to do with
the trademark, for example, are you selling T-shirts or bumper
stickers with the phrase? It can also be a good idea to trademark an
unusual and particularly catchy business name.

Many countries will totally ignore your trademark ? intellectual
piracy is rampant in China, Russia, and other Asian countries.

Google search phrase: trademark phrase
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=trademark+phrase

See:
http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/trademark/trademark3.html

You can get additional help from:
TrademarkAssistanceCenter@uspto.gov
703-308-9000

I hope this answers your question. Please understand that this is not
intended in any way to provide legal advice or take the place of legal
advice from a qualified lawyer.

In the United States and many foreign countries, you ?trademark? a
phrase simply by using it in commerce on goods or associated with
services.  For example, if you make golf clubs and you want to
trademark the phrase, ?The Best Swing of Your Life,? all you need to
do is place the phrase onto the clubs somewhere (the head, the shaft,
the grip) and voila, you have created a trademark.  Similarly, if you
sell life insurance (a ?service,? as opposed to golf clubs, which are
?goods?), to create a ?service mark? for your brand of life insurance
services, just take the phrase, e.g., ?We Take Your Life Seriously,?
as place it on advertising, brochures, your web site, etc., and you
have created a service mark for your brand of life insurance.  Note
that this all holds true even if you also develop and use a non-phrase
trademark or service mark for your golf clubs or your life insurance. 
For example, if your main brand name (trademark) for your golf clubs
is, e.g., ?Blaster,? you create a trademark as soon as you put the
mark ?Blaster? on the clubs?-you can still have trademark rights in
the phrase as well, as long as you use it on the clubs, too.

Note that accruing rights in a mark (either a trademark or service
mark) through use is different than registering the mark.  The United
States and most foreign countries have a process whereby you can
secure a ?registration? for a mark AFTER you have begun using it.  So,
yes, you can ?trademark? a phrase by using it as a trademark, and then
you can thereafter try to register it.  No tradeamrk rights accrue
simpy by filing a registration applcication.

All of this assumes that the phrase you wish to use does not infringe
on someone else?s prior trademark or service mark rights.  For
example, I think if you wanted to use the phrase, ?It?s the Real
Thing? on your line of soft drinks, the Coca-Cola people would
certainly object.  That is why you need to do some thorough searching
before you begin using your phrase as a mark.