Cohn Legal, PLLC represents entrepreneurs, startups, businesses, and established brand owners in Lincoln and throughout Nebraska in federal trademark matters before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).
Our trademark practice includes brand clearance, federal trademark applications, USPTO Office Action responses, trademark oppositions and cancellations, enforcement and defense, trademark assignments and licensing, international trademark protection, and broader trademark portfolio strategy.
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Cohn Legal does not maintain a physical office in Lincoln or elsewhere in Nebraska. The firm represents Nebraska businesses remotely in federal trademark matters before the USPTO and TTAB.
Federal Trademark Services for Lincoln Businesses
Cohn Legal assists Lincoln businesses throughout the trademark lifecycle, from evaluating a proposed brand before launch through federal registration, prosecution, enforcement, and contested proceedings.
Trademark Clearance Searches
Before substantial resources are committed to a new company name, product, service, logo, technology, consumer brand, or other commercial identity, Cohn Legal can evaluate potentially conflicting trademark rights and assess risks associated with adoption and registration.
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Federal Trademark Applications
Cohn Legal prepares and prosecutes federal trademark applications before the USPTO, including applications based on existing use in commerce and bona fide intent to use a mark in the future.
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USPTO Office Action Responses
If the USPTO raises legal or procedural objections to an application, Cohn Legal assists applicants in evaluating the refusal and developing an appropriate response.
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Trademark Oppositions and Cancellations
Cohn Legal represents trademark applicants and owners in contested proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, including opposition and cancellation matters.
Trademark Enforcement and Defense
The firm advises trademark owners and accused parties regarding cease-and-desist demands, infringement issues, enforcement strategy, potential defenses, settlement, and related trademark disputes.
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Trademark Assignments, Licensing, and Portfolio Matters
Cohn Legal assists businesses with ownership transfers, licensing arrangements, coexistence and consent agreements, international protection, and development of broader trademark portfolios.
Trademark Protection for Businesses in Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln is Nebraska’s state capital and a regional center for higher education, healthcare, manufacturing, professional services, technology, government, and entrepreneurship. The presence of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and Nebraska Innovation Campus also connects the city’s business environment with research, technology commercialization, agriculture, food science, biotechnology, and private-sector innovation.
For businesses operating in these sectors, a company name, product name, service brand, logo, slogan, or other source identifier can become an important commercial asset.
Trademark issues often arise well before a Lincoln business files an application with the USPTO. A company may form a Nebraska entity, register a trade name, purchase a domain, obtain social-media accounts, develop a product, commission a logo, create packaging, or begin advertising before determining whether the proposed mark presents a meaningful trademark risk.
None of those steps necessarily establishes that the brand is legally available.
Trademark conflicts also do not require two marks to be identical. The USPTO may refuse registration when an applied-for mark is sufficiently similar to an earlier mark and the respective goods or services are sufficiently related that consumers may mistakenly believe they originate from the same source. Similarity can involve appearance, pronunciation, wording, meaning, or overall commercial impression.
This can be particularly important for Lincoln businesses whose commercial activities extend beyond Nebraska.
A technology company may provide software or services to customers throughout the country. An agricultural or food-related company may distribute products across state lines. A manufacturer may sell through dealers or distributors in multiple markets. A research-based startup may develop technology intended for national commercialization.
A business that considers itself local may therefore encounter trademark rights established far beyond Lincoln.
Federal registrations are not the only potential source of trademark risk. Depending on the circumstances, another party may possess relevant common-law rights arising from marketplace use even without owning a federal registration.
For that reason, Cohn Legal approaches trademark clearance as a legal risk analysis rather than simply asking whether an identical name appears in the USPTO database.
LEARN ABOUT COHN LEGAL’S TRADEMARK SEARCH SERVICES
Trademark Considerations for Lincoln AgTech, Research, Technology, and Manufacturing Businesses
Lincoln’s relationship with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and Nebraska Innovation Campus creates branding considerations that can be especially relevant to research-driven startups, technology companies, agricultural ventures, food businesses, manufacturers, and businesses commercializing new products or services.
Research and technology development can involve several different forms of intellectual property. Patents may protect qualifying inventions, copyrights may protect qualifying original works, and trade-secret law may protect certain confidential information. Trademarks address a different question: the names, logos, slogans, and other source identifiers under which products and services are offered in the marketplace.
That distinction can become important as research moves toward commercialization.
A startup may have rights to technology without automatically having rights to the brand selected for the resulting product. A food-technology company may develop a proprietary process but still need to determine whether its proposed product name conflicts with an existing mark. An agricultural technology venture may similarly need to evaluate a platform or product name before introducing it to growers, distributors, or commercial partners.
Nebraska Innovation Campus is specifically designed to facilitate collaboration between the University of Nebraska and private-sector businesses, with access to research faculty, facilities, students, laboratories, pilot-plant space, and other innovation resources. Businesses emerging from this environment may therefore encounter trademark questions during the transition from research and development to commercial launch.
Timing can also matter.
A research-based company may select a brand months before its product is ready for commercial use. A manufacturer may order packaging, tooling, signage, or marketing materials before launch. An AgTech or software company may begin presentations to investors, distributors, or prospective customers while the underlying product remains in development.
Where the statutory requirements are satisfied, a Section 1(b) intent-to-use application may allow an applicant with a bona fide intention to use a mark in commerce to begin pursuing federal registration before qualifying commercial use has commenced.
Early trademark analysis can therefore help a Lincoln business evaluate a proposed brand before significant resources are committed to commercialization.
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Nebraska Business Registration vs. Federal Trademark Registration
Registering a corporation, limited liability company, trade name, or other business filing in Nebraska is not the same as obtaining federal trademark protection.
Business registration generally concerns the legal identity or name under which a company operates. Trademark law addresses words, names, symbols, designs, slogans, and other identifiers used to distinguish the source of particular goods or services.
Nebraska also maintains a separate state-level trademark and service-mark registration system through the Nebraska Secretary of State.
State registration and federal USPTO registration are separate systems.
The availability of a company or trade name through Nebraska’s business-registration system does not necessarily mean that the name is available for federal trademark registration. Similarly, obtaining a Nebraska trademark or service-mark registration does not establish that another party lacks superior federal or common-law rights.
A Lincoln business preparing to invest significantly in a company name, technology, product, service, software platform, consumer brand, agricultural product, or other commercial identity should therefore evaluate trademark availability separately from entity registration, trade-name registration, state trademark registration, domain availability, and social-media accounts.
LEARN ABOUT FEDERAL TRADEMARK REGISTRATION
Common Trademark Questions From Lincoln Businesses
If I only operate in Lincoln, can I still obtain a federal trademark?
Potentially, yes.
Federal trademark registration generally requires qualifying use in commerce, but that does not mean a business must physically operate or provide services in at least two states.
The applicable federal standard is broader and depends on whether the relevant activity constitutes commerce that Congress may regulate. Depending on the circumstances, a business operating from a single location may engage in qualifying commerce through interstate customers, online transactions, interstate distribution, transportation channels, or other commercial activity extending beyond a purely local market.
That issue may be particularly relevant to Lincoln technology, manufacturing, agricultural, software, professional-services, e-commerce, and research-driven businesses whose customers or commercial relationships extend beyond Nebraska.
If qualifying use has not yet commenced, an intent-to-use application may allow an eligible applicant with a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce to begin the federal application process before launch.
Does registering my business or trade name in Nebraska mean I own the trademark?
Not necessarily.
Business registration, trade-name registration, and trademark protection address different legal questions.
Approval or availability of a business or trade name through Nebraska’s registration system does not constitute a determination by the USPTO that the name is available for federal trademark registration.
It also does not necessarily mean that using the name will not conflict with another party’s trademark rights.
Nebraska additionally provides a state trademark and service-mark registration process, but state registration and federal registration remain separate forms of protection.
Trademark clearance should therefore be considered separately from forming a corporation or LLC, registering a trade name, obtaining a state trademark registration, purchasing a domain name, or obtaining social-media accounts.
Should I search my trademark before launching a Lincoln business?
In most cases, evaluating trademark availability before making a significant investment in a new brand is prudent.
A meaningful trademark search should not focus only on identical names. Potential conflicts can involve marks that differ in spelling, pronunciation, wording, appearance, meaning, or overall commercial impression when the respective goods or services are sufficiently related.
Depending on the circumstances, a clearance analysis may consider pending and registered federal marks, relevant marketplace use, state records, business and trade names, domains, and other sources of potentially relevant trademark rights.
For a Lincoln business investing in product development, packaging, software, equipment, signage, advertising, websites, inventory, or other branded materials, discovering a significant trademark problem before launch can provide substantially more flexibility than discovering it afterward.
If my startup commercializes university research, do I automatically have rights to the product name?
Not necessarily.
Rights relating to underlying technology and rights in the brand used to commercialize that technology involve different intellectual-property questions.
A license or other agreement concerning university-developed technology does not necessarily establish that a particular company name, product name, platform name, or other proposed brand is available for trademark use or federal registration.
A research-based startup should therefore evaluate its branding separately from questions involving ownership or licensing of the underlying technology.
Can I apply for a trademark before my Lincoln business or product launches?
Potentially, yes.
A Section 1(b) intent-to-use application permits an applicant with a bona fide intention to use a mark in commerce to begin pursuing federal registration before qualifying commercial use has commenced.
The applicant must ultimately satisfy the applicable use requirements before registration can issue.
An intent-to-use filing may be particularly relevant to a Lincoln startup, technology company, manufacturer, AgTech venture, food business, or research-based enterprise that expects a substantial development period before commercial launch.
Can I protect both my company name and my product names?
Potentially.
A business may develop trademark rights in more than one source identifier. Depending on how the marks are used, a company name, product name, service name, logo, slogan, or other brand element may independently function as a trademark.
Whether separate federal applications are appropriate depends on the particular marks, the goods or services involved, the business’s commercial priorities, and broader portfolio strategy.
What happens if the USPTO refuses my trademark application?
A USPTO Office Action does not necessarily mean that an application is finished.
An Office Action identifies legal or procedural issues that must be addressed before the application can proceed.
Common substantive issues include likelihood of confusion under Section 2(d) of the Lanham Act and mere descriptiveness under Section 2(e)(1). Applications may also encounter issues involving specimens, identification of goods and services, disclaimers, ownership, application formalities, and other requirements.
Cohn Legal represents applicants in evaluating and responding to both substantive and procedural USPTO Office Actions.
LEARN ABOUT OFFICE ACTION RESPONSES
LEARN ABOUT SECTION 2(d) REFUSALS
Do I need a trademark attorney located in Nebraska?
No.
Federal trademark applications and proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board are governed by federal law and administered through the USPTO.
A Lincoln business therefore does not need to retain an attorney who maintains a physical office in Nebraska merely because the business is located there.
Cohn Legal represents businesses and entrepreneurs throughout the United States in federal trademark matters, including clients located in Lincoln and elsewhere in Nebraska. Consultations and ongoing representation for clients outside the firm’s physical office locations are generally conducted remotely.
Trademark Opposition and Cancellation Proceedings
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board is the administrative tribunal within the USPTO responsible for deciding certain disputes concerning the right to register or maintain a federal trademark registration.
Cohn Legal represents both trademark applicants and trademark owners in TTAB opposition and cancellation proceedings.
An opposition generally arises when a party challenges a pending trademark application after publication. A cancellation proceeding generally involves an effort to cancel an existing federal registration on one or more legally recognized grounds.
TTAB proceedings can involve pleadings, discovery, document requests, interrogatories, depositions, motions practice, evidentiary disputes, summary judgment, testimony, trial briefing, settlement negotiations, and other contested issues.
Although the TTAB generally determines rights relating to federal trademark registration rather than awarding monetary damages for infringement, a Board proceeding can materially affect a company’s ability to register, maintain, or expand an important brand.
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Meet Trademark Attorney Avraham S.Z. Cohn
Avraham S.Z. Cohn, Esq.
Managing Partner, Cohn Legal, PLLC
Avraham S.Z. Cohn represents entrepreneurs, startups, established companies, and international businesses in federal trademark matters.
His practice includes trademark clearance and registrability analysis, federal trademark applications, responses to USPTO refusals, trademark oppositions and cancellations before the TTAB, cease-and-desist matters, trademark enforcement and defense, coexistence and consent agreements, assignments, licensing, international trademark protection, and portfolio strategy.
Mr. Cohn regularly represents trademark applicants and owners before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
VIEW AVRAHAM S.Z. COHN’S FULL BIOGRAPHY
Federal Trademark Experience
USPTO
Federal Trademark Prosecution
Trademark applications, Office Action responses, Statements of Use, extensions, post-registration matters, and related USPTO proceedings.
TTAB
Trademark Oppositions & Cancellations
Representation of trademark applicants and owners in contested proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Trademark Enforcement
Protection and Defense of Brand Rights
Cease-and-desist matters, infringement issues, settlement negotiations, coexistence agreements, and related enforcement strategy.
Nationwide
Federal Trademark Representation
Representation of businesses throughout the United States in federal trademark matters, including clients located in Lincoln and elsewhere in Nebraska.
Why Lincoln Businesses Work With Cohn Legal
Trademark matters can involve substantially more than completing and submitting an application.
Cohn Legal assists clients with evaluating proposed brands before launch, conducting trademark clearance, developing filing strategies, responding to substantive USPTO refusals, navigating TTAB proceedings, enforcing established trademark rights, defending against infringement allegations, negotiating trademark-related agreements, and managing growing trademark portfolios.
For Lincoln businesses, trademark planning may intersect with technology commercialization, university research, agriculture and AgTech, food and consumer products, manufacturing, healthcare, software, professional services, and expansion into markets outside Nebraska.
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Federal Trademark Resources
Businesses seeking additional information about federal trademark protection may consult the following primary legal and governmental resources.
United States Patent and Trademark Office
United States Patent and Trademark Office – Trademarks
Official information concerning federal trademark applications, registrations, maintenance, searching, and USPTO procedures.
Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure
Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP)
USPTO guidance concerning the examination and prosecution of federal trademark applications.
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB)
Official USPTO information concerning trademark oppositions, cancellations, appeals, and other Board proceedings.
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Manual of Procedure
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Manual of Procedure (TBMP)
Procedural guidance concerning practice before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051 et seq.
Lanham Act – 15 U.S.C. Chapter 22
The principal federal statutory framework governing trademarks and federal trademark registration in the United States.
Nebraska Trademark and Service Mark Registration
Nebraska Secretary of State — Trademarks and Service Marks
Official information from the Nebraska Secretary of State concerning Nebraska trademark and service-mark filings and registration.
About the Author
Avraham S.Z. Cohn, Esq.
Managing Partner, Cohn Legal, PLLC
Avraham S.Z. Cohn represents businesses and entrepreneurs in federal trademark prosecution, trademark enforcement and defense, and proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
VIEW AVRAHAM S.Z. COHN’S FULL BIOGRAPHY
Written and reviewed by Avraham S.Z. Cohn, Esq.
Last reviewed: September 2026
Speak With a Trademark Attorney
If you are launching a new brand, preparing a federal trademark application, responding to a USPTO refusal, evaluating a potential trademark conflict, or involved in a trademark opposition or cancellation proceeding, Cohn Legal can review the matter and discuss potential next steps.
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