Trademarks

Building your Business

Your name, your image and those of your products and services are some of your most important assets when it comes to sustaining and building your business. Each year, Boyle Fredrickson files hundreds of U.S. and foreign trademark applications on behalf of our clients. We can guide you through the differences between trademarks, service marks and trade dress and help you enhance the value of your brands.

What Is a Trademark?

Trademarks are words, designs, slogans, or symbols that are used to identify the products or services of one business entity and distinguish them from the products and services of others.

Trademark protection can sometimes be obtained for a product’s trade dress, which is the total image of the product or its packaging, potentially including features such as size, shape, color or color combinations, texture, graphics. The decor of a business and even particular sales techniques can sometimes be protected as trade dress.

Trademark Law

Trademark law seeks to prevent confusion or deception by prohibiting others from using the same or similar trademark for the same or closely related products or services.

Having an identifiable and distinctive mark or brand for a product or service can be an extremely valuable business asset, in part because, if properly used and protected, trademark protection lasts indefinitely.

Federal Registration

As with copyrights, federal registration of trademarks is available and affords enhanced rights and remedies to trademark owners. An unregistered trademark can be identified with the “TM” symbol. However, once a trademark is registered with the USPTO, the ® symbol can be displayed in conjunction with the mark. Obtaining sound legal advice concerning the selection, clearance, and registration of trademarks increases the likelihood of developing enforceable, enduring and valuable marks.

Our Trademarks

Your name, your image and those of your products and services are some of your most important assets when it comes to sustaining and building your business. Each year, Boyle Fredrickson files hundreds of U.S. and foreign trademark applications on behalf of our clients. We know the difference between trademarks, service marks and trade dress and how to maximize your rights with respect to each.

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