Most people comprehend of the numerous benefits of having a trademark registration on Principal Register for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In fact, trademark owners are urged by trademark attorneys to select distinctive marks in order to be able to, upon handy in interstate commerce, be registered there and have numerous presumptions because validity, ownership, and notice. However, the Supplemental Register comes with value, especially once the alternative is your own the question most important.
Before the benefits associated with being supplementally registered is discussed, when you understand that which a supplemental registration does not provide. Marks frequently relegated to the Supplemental Register because, at the request of the USPTO examining attorney, the marks are merely descriptive and therefore not a distinctive identifier of the source of the goods or services to which the potential pertains. Such placement does not pay for the exclusive right added with the mark in commerce in a connection with its identified services or goods. Equally important, it does not serve as prima facie evidence from the validity of the registered mark or of the trademark registrant’s ownership within the mark. Finally, it may an admission that the mark is not inherently distinctive.
While these drawbacks obviously warrant a mark owner’s try to be registered on the primary Register, a supplemental registration has benefits of its own. In fact, some entities choose to possess a Online Brand Name Registration India that tells consumers what this is they are offering (e.g. Pizza Restaurant) as opposed to an inherently distinctive mark (.e.g. Domino’s) that requires effort to create consumer recognition. Such marks are not going to warrant principal placement, even though they be supplementally outlined. After five years on the Supplemental Register, the mark may qualify for the main Register due there having acquired distinctiveness. It is worth noting that both allow the owner to use the registered trademark symbol, sue in federal court, and leverage on certain international treaties.
Thus, any registration with the USPTO is better than having no trademark registration at all. While ultimately the Principal Register provides the best results and best protection, the Supplemental Register should be considered where an entity prefers what usually a merely descriptive mark at the outset or has failed to acquire the requisite distinctiveness to be registered on where many deem as the preferred spot.