Trademark Registration

 What Are the Advantages of Registering a Trademark? (Source: USPTO and INTA websites)
Registration of your mark is not required. You can establish rights in a mark based on legitimate use of your mark. However, owning a federal trademark registration on the Principal Register In the United States, for example, provides the following advantages:
  • The filing date of the application is a constructive date of first use of the mark in commerce (this gives registrant nationwide priority as of that date, except as to certain prior users or prior applicants);
  • The right to sue in Federal court for trademark infringement;
  • Recovery of profits, damages and costs in a Federal court infringement action and the possibility of triple damages and attorneys’ fees;
  • Constructive notice to the public of the registrant's claim of ownership of the mark;
  • The right to deposit the registration with Customs in order to stop the importation of goods bearing an infringing mark;
  • Evidence of the validity of the registration, registrant’s ownership of the mark and of registrant’s exclusive right to use the mark in commerce in connection with the goods or services specified in the certificates;
  • The possibility of incontestability, in which case the registration constitutes conclusive evidence of the registrant’s exclusive right, with certain limited exceptions, to use the registered mark in commerce;
  • Limited grounds for attacking a registration once it is five years old;
  • Availability of criminal penalties and treble damages in an action for counterfeiting a registered trademark;
  • The use of the U.S registration as a basis for filing trademark applications in foreign countries.