A trademark examiner is an attorney employed by a government entity such as 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 Alex ...
(USPTO) to determine whether an applicant should be permitted to receive a
trademark registration
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. ...
, thus affording legal protection to the applicant's
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 othe ...
. The job of a trademark examiner is thus to examine marks applied for to determine if they run afoul of any prohibitions on registration, such as infringing upon an existing registration of the same mark, or constituting the generic name of the goods with which the mark is associated.
In the United States
The USPTO employs several hundred trademark examiners at any given time, although the number fluctuates with the strength of the economy, which influences how many new trademark filings are being submitted. These employees are evaluated by a point system, based on the number of applications that they address and dispose of, either by permitting them to go forward to registration, or denying registration in an
office action
In the United States, an Office action is a document written by an examiner in a patent or trademark examination procedure and mailed to an applicant for a patent or trademark. The expression is used in many jurisdictions.
Formally, the "O" is ...
, and seeing this denial through any appeals taken within the USPTO. Some USPTO trademark examiners work in the USPTO building in
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C.
In 2020, the population was 159,467. ...
, but a majority telework full-time.
In 2011, proposed budget cuts of $100 million to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office budget of slightly over $2 billion were reported to not have any impact on the size of the Trademark staff. However, all hiring in 2011 at the USPTO was frozen.
In Turkey
The
TPI (Turkish Patent Institute) employs more than hundred trademark examiners at any given time.
All TPI trademark examiners work in the TPE building in
Ankara
Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
.
At first, an examiner starts to work as an assistant for three years. After 2 years TPE wants from him to prepare a thesis about any subject of trademark. He studies on thesis nearly 10 months. After that he presents it to the Board of Directors. If thesis accepted by the Board, examiner will enter an exam about the thesis.
If everything goes on its way, assistant examiner is going to leave the assistance label and will become a trademark examiner.
See also
*
Trademark attorney
A trademark attorney (U.S. spelling) or trade mark attorney or agent (UK spelling) is a person who is qualified to act in matters involving trademark law and practice and provide legal advice on trade mark and design matters.
In many countries, ...
*
Patent examiner A patent examiner (or, historically, a patent clerk) is an employee, usually a civil servant with a scientific or engineering background, working at a patent office. Major employers of patent examiners are the European Patent Office (EPO), the Un ...
References
Examiner
Examiner or The Examiner may refer to:
Occupations
* Bank examiner, a kind of auditor
* Examiner (Roman Catholicism), a type of office in the Roman Catholic Church
* Examinership, a concept in Irish law
* Medical examiner
* Patent examiner
* Tr ...
Legal professions
Intellectual property law
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