Posts Tagged: "trademark office"

Trademark owners are often targeted by fraudulent, deceptive registry services

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s official website warns trademark owners about private companies who conduct trademark scams. These schemes involve companies, many of which use names intended to confuse people into an association with the USPTO, who make offers for legal services, trademark monitoring services, recording trademarks with U.S. Customs and Border Protection or registering the trademarks in a private registry. On its warning page, the USPTO maintains a list of a couple dozen such companies whose scamming activities are known.

Estimating the Costs for Filing, Registering, and Renewing Single-class Trademarks across the Globe

Estimates for renewing the trademark for one term (including the attorney costs) in the U.S. and the other seven Convention countries vary from $320 in Thailand to $2,120 in the U.S., while the same amounts to $4,556 under the Madrid Protocol (Figure 5). The estimates are inclusive of the costs for filing combined affidavits under Section 8 (affidavit of use) and Section 15 (incontestability) in the U.S., in addition to the costs for filing an “Affidavit of Continued Use” under Section 9 in the U.S. The individual country renewal fees under the Madrid Protocol vary from $80 in India to $925 in the EU (Figure 6).

The Cheesesteak Apostrophe: Restaurant Sues USPTO to Trademark “Philadelphia’s Cheesesteak”

A well-known sandwich and a little punctuation mark are at the heart of a lawsuit between a Philadelphia restaurant and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Campo’s Deli in Philadelphia, is suing the director of the Patent and Trademark Office, David Kappos, in response the USPTO’s rejection of their application, which sought to trademark the name “Philadelphia’s Cheesesteak.” The problem? There are already registrations for nearly identical marks — just without the apostrophe.

USPTO Seeks Comment on Lowering Trademark Application Fees

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking public comment on the possibility of adjusting trademark application fees, so as to lower the fees for all applicants willing to file and communicate electronically with the USPTO. The efficiencies achieved by trademark electronic filing and communications have put the USPTO in a position to potentially reduce the overall collection of trademark application fees, and the Office wishes to adjust the fees in a way that further promotes efficiency both for users and the USPTO. A Notice of Inquiry has been published in the Federal Register.

USPTO Expands Trademark Law School Pilot Program

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today announced the selection of nine additional law schools to join the Trademark Law School Clinic Certification Pilot Program this fall. The program allows law students to practice trademark law before the USPTO under the guidance of a faculty clinic supervisor.