USPTO Trademark Watch Service
Whether you have just recently registered a trademark with the USPTO or have a portfolio of long-standing trademarks, hiring a trademark watch service is imperative to making sure that your intellectual property does not get stolen, infringed upon, or diluted.
Click the button below to sign up for our trademark watch service.
Why it is important to Monitor your Trademarks
The most important aspect of protecting your brand is to make sure your trademarks are properly registered. But once you have received that registration, now what?
Registering your trademark is just the beginning of making sure your brand is protected. A trademark watch service is necessary to insure that no other companies or brands are attempting to register names, slogans, or logos that are confusingly similar to yours.
A trademark watch service will monitor new USPTO filings and alert you when an application for a confusingly similar trademark is filed. It is currently taking approximately 8-9 months for the USPTO to assign a lawyer to a new application who will conduct a search to make sure no other trademarks are likely to be confused with the newly filed application.
Not only is this an incredibly long time, but there is no guarantee that the examining attorney will find YOUR trademark when conducting their search, and even if they do, there is no guarantee that they will conclude that your prior registered mark is likely to be confused with the applied-for mark.
This is why a USPTO trademark watch service is so important.
With a registered trademark in hand, you must make sure that you continue to protect your brand identity and reputation by monitoring newly filed trademark applications that might be confusing to your mark.
Failing to properly monitor the USPTO database for new applications could let competitors slip through the tracks and register a name that could pose problems for your brand. Not only could a similar mark confuse the marketplace, but it could also dilute your brand and invalidate your trademark over time.
Benefits of a Trademark Watch Service
A trademark watch service will monitor the USPTO database and find all new filings that are confusingly similar to your trademark. With this information, you can take all appropriate actions to safeguard your intellectual property, including sending a cease and desist letter, filing a federal lawsuit, negotiating a financial settlement or co-existence agreement, filing a letter of protest, begin preparation for an opposition proceeding or other remedies.
These actions will serve to deter potential infringers from attempting to register a trademark that is deceptively similar to your prior-registered mark.
Essentially, early detection of potential infringement can allow you more time to craft a legal strategy, negotiate a resolution, and reduce overall legal fees. It is much less expensive to stop a trademark application from proceeding to registration than it is to attempt to cancel a trademark that has already registered.
What does a Trademark Watch Service Do?
When you sign up for trademark watch service, you are hiring a company (such as Hawthorn Law®) to monitor the USPTO database for new applications that have names that sound or look similar to your registered trademark and then notify you of this.
Searches frequently occur on a weekly or monthly basis, and are completely automated. If the system hits on an infringing mark, the service will let you know so that you can decide how best to handle the situation.
Most trademark watch services will only monitor the USPTO, but it is possible (and more expensive) to expand the watch to other databases and social media platforms.
Our USPTO Trademark Watch and Monitoring Service
Here are Hawthorn Law we offer one year of complimentary trademark monitoring to our clients on the Standard and Ultimate trademark plans. For our Basic clients, and for anyone else who is seeking to protect an already registered trademark, we offer a USPTO Trademark Watch service subscription for only $99/year.
Here is what is included in our USPTO Trademark Watch Service:
- We will monitor the USPTO database for new trademark application filings that are likely to cause confusion with your previously registered trademarks.
- If we discover a new filing that is likely to cause confusion with your mark, then we will notify you via email and advise you of possible actions that you can take and the fees associated with those actions.
- Included in the subscription is a free phone conference to discuss any potential infringement.
- Any subsequent work beyond the initial infringement notification and follow-up call will be billed separately. You are under no obligation to do anything, including sending a cease and desist letter, if you don't want to.
The annual subscription price is $99/mark, up to five (5) trademarks. If have more than 5 marks, we will handle the remainder (up to 20) at no additional cost to you.
The Subscription will renew automatically on an annual basis. You may cancel anytime prior to your renewal date by letting us know.