In
United States trademark law
A trademark is a word, phrase, or logo that identifies the source of goods or services. Trademark law protects a business' commercial identity or brand by discouraging other businesses from adopting a name or logo that is "confusingly similar" to ...
, the Principal Register is the primary register of
trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
s maintained by the
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...
. It is governed by Subchapter I of the
Lanham Act.
Having a mark registered under the Principal Register confers certain benefits on the holder of the mark. Among them are:
* Nationwide constructive use and constructive notice, which cuts off rights of other users for similar marks
* The possibility of achieving incontestable status after five years (which cuts off certain defenses of potential
infringement defendants)
* The right to bring a federal
cause of action for infringement without regard to
diversity or
amount in controversy
* The right to request
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilit ...
officials to bar importation of goods bearing infringing trademarks
* Provisions for
treble damages
In United States law, treble damages is a term that indicates that a statute permits a court to triple the amount of the actual/compensatory damages to be awarded to a prevailing plaintiff. Treble damages are a multiple of, and not an addition to ...
,
attorney fees
Attorney's fee is a chiefly United States term for compensation for legal services performed by an attorney (lawyer or law firm) for a client, in or out of court. It may be an hourly, flat-rate or contingent fee. Recent studies suggest that when l ...
, and various other remedies.
Trademarks must be inherently distinctive, or have acquired sufficient secondary meaning, to be registered on the Principal Register.
See also
*
Supplemental Register
In United States trademark law, the Supplemental Register is the secondary register of trademarks maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It was established in 1946 by Subchapter II of the Lanham Act, to allow the domestic reg ...
References
* Merges, Robert P., Menell, Peter S., and Lemley, Mark A. ''Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age, Third Edition.'' Aspen Publishers, 2003. pp. 591–592.
External links
Explanation of the Principal Register, from QuizLawfrom the
Legal Information Institute
The Legal Information Institute (LII) is a non-profit, public service of Cornell Law School that provides no-cost access to current American and international legal research sources online alaw.cornell.edu The organization is a pioneer in the del ...
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United States trademark law