The USPTO stands for the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
This is the office that deals with Trademarks. Your brand is important to your identification, but just as important is that you own your brand 100%. If you make a mistake someone else may own the rights to your trademark. You could have to take it off your product or the Internet or choose another one or even possibly be sued.
The USPTO,
DOES
- Protect the Tangible Expression of Your Invention or Symbol
- Record and Store Documents and Material
- Protect the Registrant of the Patent or Symbol
- Provide a Patent with a Registration Date
- Take Money for Your Registration
- Provide Paid Searches for Patents
- Provide Forms and Guidelines
- Provide a Help-Line
The USPTO,
DOES NOT
- Protect Your Idea
- Settle Lawsuits
- Does Not Protect You in Other Countries at all Times
- Protect or Provide Legal Services to Patent Registrants or Owners
One thing to understand is that the rights for Trademark vest in common law. This means that if you are using a Trademark in a state in commerce you may have the right in that state or states that you conduct business in to use that mark. This does not mean you have a federal right and the USPTO assigns those rights.
