El Paso, Texas Businesses Use Cohn Legal for Trademark Services

* Cohn Legal, PLLC is not located in El Paso and yet it can assist businesses from Texas in registering a federal Trademark because trademarks are governed under federal law.

Cohn Legal, PLLC is a boutique law firm that focuses on startups and entrepreneurs. On the most fundamental level, our goal is to provide our clients with exceptional legal guidance and support at cost-effective rates. Serving clients in El Paso, Texas, our trademark attorneys continuously strive to provide you with the best legal strategies to protect your intellectual property and business interests.

Top 7 Questions El Paso Businesses Have About Obtaining a Trademark

What is a trademark?

A registered trademark is a word, logo, slogan, or design that enables consumers to identify the company who produced the product or offers the service.

How do I register a federal trademark?

If you want a registered trademark, you need to first submit a trademark application to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO. Upon receiving the application, the USPTO examining attorney will search the USPTO database to identify any trademarks that similar to the trademark you want. If the examining attorney does find a similar trademark, then your application will be rejected.

However, if no similar mark is found and your application gets approved for publication, your trademark printed in the USPTO’s Official Gazette for 30 days. During that time, any third party can submit an “opposition” to the application if they feel that your trademark infringes upon theirs. Assuming no oppositions come forward, your trademark will be approved for final registration.

Is there a legal requirement that says I have to conduct a trademark search?

There’s no law or regulation that says you have to do a trademark search before filing your application, but it’s a smart idea.

You can gain access the USPTO trademark database and search for existing trademarks. If you find one that’s similar to your desired mark, then you know that you’ll have to come up with a new name or logo. It can be frustrating to find the name you want isn’t available. However, doing a proper trademark search now can save you time, money, and legal complications in the long run.

Do I need to have a registered trademark before I start selling my goods or services?

You actually don’t need a registered trademark to start selling your product or service. However, it is wise to get your trademark registered as soon as possible. If a third party sees you conducting business without a registered trademark, there’s nothing stopping that person from using your brand on their similar product. They may even go one step further and register your trademark for themselves. Don’t put off the trademark registration process. Any serious business owner knows how important it is to protect their trademark against infringement.

How long does a trademark last?

A trademark lasts forever. You can keep a trademark for literally hundreds of years as long as you keep the mark “in commerce” and meet renewal deadlines set forth by the USPTO. You’ll have to first renew the trademark around the 5-year anniversary of your original trademark registration, then again at the 10-year anniversary. Then, you’ll have to renew your registration and every 10 years after that.

What is the difference between a fanciful trademark and an arbitrary trademark?

Fanciful trademarks are marks that are usually made up or invented and only have meaning when applied to a specific product or service. An example of a fanciful trademark would be Exxon or Pepsi. Neither word has meaning or significance other than when referring to a particular product.

An arbitrary mark is a mark that has a meaning on its own, but applied to a particular product that’s unrelated to that meaning. Peter Pan. Peter pan is the name of a character in a book, but when applied to peanut butter, it has no particular meaning and is considered to be distinctive.

Can I file a trademark if I’m not yet selling any products, but intend to?

You can file a trademark before you are ready to start selling your product or service. First, contact a trademark attorney who can help you file an Intent-To-Use (ITU) trademark application to the USPTO.

If the ITU application has been accepted, you’ll receive a Notice of Allowance (NOA). Once you receive the NOA, you’ll have 6 months to submit your Statement of Use. If you need more time you can file for an extension. Each extension request will give you an extra 6 months to provide the Statement of Use. You can file up to 5 extensions.

Additional Information on Trademark Registration for El Paso Businesses

New business owners in El Paso are very focused on their budgets, which is understandable. Starting a new business has a lot of costs. From purchasing inventory, hiring employees, and creating marketing materials, the expenses can seem endless.

Some business owners try to save money and conduct a do-it-yourself trademark search. This may seem like a good way to cut costs as you start your business. It can actually cost you much more money than if you hired a trademark attorney in the first place.

Consider this scenario: Best friends Daniel and Roger have finally decided to start their own electrical contracting company after years of spending time working for another contractor. They want to avoid using someone else’s trademark. They don’t want to spend money on hiring a trademark attorney but they have a strict budget. So they decide to simply Google the name of their business, Lights On Electric. There is no other business in El Paso with that name.

The two friends create a website, buy a van and have their new logo printed on it. Their logo is a large light bulb with a hand giving a “thumbs up” in the middle.

While their Google search revealed no other businesses with the name Lights On Electric in the El Paso area, they failed to search for logos.

A well-known company in Las Cruces called OK Electric, uses a very similar logo. The owners of OK Electric trademarked their logo, and when they found out about the logo that was featured on Lights On Electric’s website, van, and marketing materials, they sent a cease-and-desist letter. Now Daniel and Roger must spend additional time and money rebranding their business.

If you are opening a new business or growing an existing one, contact the attorneys at Cohn Legal for a complimentary trademark consultation. We specialize in startups and have a cost-effective fee structure.

Trademarks Services for El Paso Businesses

• Trademark Search Services
• Trademark Application Filing
• Trademark Infringement Defense
• Trademark a Name
• Trademark a Phrase
• Trademark Cease and Desist Letters
• Trademark Office Action Response
• Trademark Abandonment