United States trademark law A trademark is a word, phrase, or logo that identifies the source of goods or services. Trademark law protects a business' commercial identity or brand by discouraging other businesses from adopting a name or logo that is "confusingly similar" to ...

, the Principal Register is the primary register of

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...

s maintained by the

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...

. It is governed by Subchapter I of the

Lanham Act The Lanham (Trademark) Act (, codified at et seq. () is the primary federal trademark statute of law in the United States. The Act prohibits a number of activities, including trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and false advertising. ...

. Having a mark registered under the Principal Register confers certain benefits on the holder of the mark. Among them are: * Nationwide constructive use and constructive notice, which cuts off rights of other users for similar marks * The possibility of achieving incontestable status after five years (which cuts off certain defenses of potential infringement defendants) * The right to bring a federal

cause of action A cause of action or right of action, in law, is a set of facts sufficient to justify suing to obtain money or property, or to justify the enforcement of a legal right against another party. The term also refers to the legal theory upon which a ...

for infringement without regard to

diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

amount in controversy Amount in controversy (sometimes called jurisdictional amount) is a term used in civil procedure to denote the amount at stake in a lawsuit, in particular in connection with a requirement that persons seeking to bring a lawsuit in a particular cour ...

* The right to request U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials to bar importation of goods bearing infringing trademarks * Provisions for

treble damages In United States law, treble damages is a term that indicates that a statute permits a court to triple the amount of the actual/compensatory damages to be awarded to a prevailing plaintiff. Treble damages are a multiple of, and not an addition t ...

, attorney fees, and various other remedies. Trademarks must be inherently distinctive, or have acquired sufficient secondary meaning, to be registered on the Principal Register.

References

* Merges, Robert P., Menell, Peter S., and Lemley, Mark A. ''Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age, Third Edition.'' Aspen Publishers, 2003. pp. 591–592.

External links

Explanation of the Principal Register, from QuizLaw

from the Legal Information Institute {{US-law-stub United States trademark law

See also

References

External links