Trademarks & Service Marks

Overview

The goodwill of a business and its identity in the marketplace may well be tied primarily to a trademark. Protecting your trademark is paramount in fostering an ongoing and positive association in the marketplace between your product or service and your business. Dickinson Bradshaw's intellectual property attorneys routinely handle state, federal and international trademark registrations. Our approach begins with common sense counseling about your proposed trademark on such issues as the legal requirements for registration at the state and federal levels; research and guidance as to whether the trademark may infringe the rights of others; and revisions to your mark to distinguish your business, and its products and services, from the crowd. 

From there, our attorneys will file the application for trademark protection, defend the application before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the USPTO) or a state registrar as applicable, and, upon registration of the mark, continue to monitor the mark and advise you of any potentially infringing marks we discover. We also negotiate trademark licenses and co-existence agreements, and handle opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), as well as infringement matters in federal court. Dickinson Bradshaw has a state-of-the art docketing system to ensure that important statutory filing dates are calendared and you are notified of required filings so the necessary documents can be submitted for the continued registration of your trademark. Upon a client's request, Dickinson Bradshaw's intellectual property attorneys will engage in informal and formal trademark infringement proceedings against a third party to protect a mark against those who would intentionally or unintentionally capitalize on its goodwill by infringing use.

Associated Practice Areas