The process for filing a trademark is more straightforward. Once a trademark is created, an applicant must ensure that no prior trademarks have been registered under the same name, phrase, or design. Under USPTO law, the right of way is given to the person who first utilizes a trademarked creation, not the one who is first granted registration. Since the dispute can hold up the process, it is important to register your trademark as soon as you create it.

Similar to a patent, the trademark application is examined by attorneys and then published in the weekly USPTO trademark gazette. Here, it allows people to contest the trademark registration, similar to a patent application. If the contesting process goes without any issue, then the trademark is registered.

Both patents and trademarks hold equal value in the commercial production of a specific product. They both go hand in hand to protect an entire invention, and for any company intending to commercially benefit from their inventions, it is important for them to both trademark and patent everything involved in the process of production.

Ultimately, this can make the key difference between watching your hard work be wrongfully utilized, or your brand name being smeared or misused by an entity that is unrelated to your company.

Whether you need to file a patent or a trademark, intellectual property law is a field that comes with a lot of technicalities that inventors and creators are not often aware of. Instead of wrongfully filing for something (and losing) or being granted a right that does not fully protect you, it is better to get legal help right from the start.

Legal teams, like that at MDE Patents, have tons of experience in helping people file their applications, fighting any contesting, and then ensuring that all infringements are dealt with properly.