Most people know the of the numerous benefits of owning a trademark registration close to the Principal Register belonging to 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 revel in numerous presumptions such as validity, ownership, and notice. However, the Supplemental Register even offers value, especially when the alternative is beyond the question the first time.
Before the benefits associated with being supplementally registered is discussed, when you understand that that your supplemental registration does not provide. Marks occasionally 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 services or goods to which the mark pertains. Such placement does not pay for the exclusive right also included with the mark in commerce in experience with its identified goods or services. Equally important, it does not serve as prima facie evidence of your validity of the registered mark or of the Online Trademark Registration Search India registrant’s ownership of the mark. Finally, regardless of how an admission that the mark is not inherently distinctive.
While these drawbacks obviously warrant a mark owner’s try to be registered on the main Register, a supplemental registration has advantages of its own. In fact, some entities choose to have a brand that tells consumers what is usually they are offering (e.g. Pizza Restaurant) as opposed with regard 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 disclosed. After five years on the Supplemental Register, the mark may qualify for the main Register due to it having acquired distinctiveness. It is worth noting that both allow the owner to use the registered trademark symbol, sue in federal court, and take benefit from certain international treaties.
Thus, any registration with the USPTO is better than having no trademark registration at everything. While ultimately the Principal Register provides the best results and best protection, the Supplemental Register should be considered where an entity prefers what is likely a merely descriptive mark at the outset or didn’t acquire the requisite distinctiveness to be registered on where many deem as favored spot.