The Benefits of Federal Registration

As discussed in Chapters 1 and 2, one need not secure a registration from the PTO to have rights to a trademark; however, federal registration affords significant benefits. The PTO maintains two rolls or registers of marks: the Principal Register and the Supplemental Register. Registration on the Principal Register is preferred because it affords the following advantages:

  • Presumption that the mark has been used nationwide since the filing date of the application, thus allowing its owner to preclude later confusingly similar uses anywhere in the United States

  • Nationwide notice of the trademark owner's claim of ownership of the mark so that a later user cannot claim that it used the mark in good faith

  • Right to ...

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