CALIFORNIA SERVICE MARK ATTORNEYS, CALIFORNIA TRADEMARK LAWYERS, SAN DIEGO TRADEMARK ATTORNEYS, ORANGE COUNTY TRADEMARK LAWYERS

California Trademark Law Firm of Attorney R. Sebastian Gibson
Southern California Service Mark Attorney, San Diego Trademark Lawyers, Orange County Trademark Attorneys

Serving Palm Springs, Palm Desert Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, the Central Coast, San Bernardino & Santa Barbara from our law offices in Rancho Mirage, CA

What is the difference between a trademark and a service mark? The California service mark law firm of attorney Sebastian Gibson provides you with the following discussion of service mark law.

A trademark is a word(s), name(s), phrase(s), symbol(s) or design(s), or combination thereof used in commerce with goods indicating the source of those goods and distinguishing them from other goods for use in brand identity.

A servicemark or service mark, on the other hand, is similar to a trademark except that it is used in connection with services instead of products.

Trademarks and service marks used in interstate or foreign commerce may be registered with the Patent and Trademark Office, with the help of our California service mark law firm and the service mark attorneys and lawyers we utilize from other law firms on complex cases and can assign to your case. Trademarks prevent others from using confusingly similar marks, but of themselves do not prevent others from making or selling the same goods or services under a clearly different trademark or service mark.

The Palm Springs desert area service mark Law Firm of Attorney R. Sebastian Gibson from offices in Rancho Mirage, can apply for service marks (or servicemarks) on behalf of our clients in Riverside, the Inland Empire, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, the Central Coast & Santa Barbara County, California and our law firm and each of the service mark attorneys who are currently, or may in the future be working with us can enforce them through the actions of our offices and by means of litigation.

Service mark attorneys help in the registration of a trademark or service mark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") is not required.  However, service mark registration by service mark lawyers does provide constructive notice to the public of the registrant's claim of ownership of the trademark, service mark (or servicemark) and provides a legal presumption of the registrant's ownership of the service mark and the exclusive right to use it in the U.S. on or in connection with the specific class of goods or services listed in the service mark registration.

In addition, registration of the service mark by a trademark attorney with our Palm Springs desert area law firm from offices in Rancho Mirage, California will provide the registrant with a basis to obtain registration in foreign countries, the ability to file the U.S. registration with the U.S. Customs Service to prevent importation of infringing foreign goods and the ability to file suit over the service mark in federal court.

The statutory language used by service mark attorneys states that while the registration is pending and, in fact, at any time a person claims rights in a  mark, that person can use the "TM" (trademark) or "SM" (service mark) designation in connection with the goods or services.  But, you may not use the R symbol ® until the USPTO actually registers the service mark and not while any application is pending.

An application for trademark or service mark must include the name of the applicant, a name and address for correspondence, a clear drawing of the mark (within very specific guidelines), a listing of the goods or services and the filing fee for at least one class of goods or services. Service mark lawyers such as those utilized by the California law firm of service mark attorney Sebastian Gibson from other law firms to assist clients in San Diego, Orange County, and elsewhere in Southern California can save you time with these procedures because if your application does not meet these minimum requirements, and for other reasons, the USPTO may return the servicemark or service mark application papers and refund any fees paid.

A great amount of information is available at the USPTO.gov website. However, Palm Springs desert area and San Diego educated attorney Sebastian Gibson, is experienced in trademark and service mark matters and may be able to prepare an application which provides greater protection to the registrant by knowing, for instance, that once an application is filed, you may not expand or broaden the identification of goods and/or services described in the service mark application.

In addition, service mark attorneys utilized by our law firm in the Palm Springs Desert Area, Riverside, CA, the Inland Empire, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, the Central Coast & Santa Barbara, California may be able to advise a client whether the servicemark is too generic, descriptive, deceptive, suggestive, arbitrary, fanciful for brand identity or whether a secondary meaning can be shown, which may affect whether a service mark can be registered.

When filing an application based on a product's use in commerce, service mark lawyers and attorneys can also assist in submitting a proper specimen of use for the product or services. After the application for a service mark is filed, the trademark office's examining attorneys will search the USPTO records to determine if a conflict exists between your mark and that of any other service mark which is registered or pending before the USPTO. In order to have a conflict, two service marks need not be identical. It may be sufficient that two marks are similar or may lead to confusion or dilution of another's mark.

You, or our attorneys, should at least search USPTO records before filing an application to determine if a conflict may exist. In addition, service mark search firms, for a fee, can do a much more extensive search, which should also include an internet domain name search by their service mark lawyers.

This information barely scratches the surface of trademark and service mark law and the application process and is by no means a complete guide to the law or application procedure followed by our Palm Springs desert area law firm in our assistance of clients in Riverside, the Inland Empire, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, the Central Coast, Santa Barbara, CA and elsewhere in southern California and the service mark lawyers we have available to assist you.

The trademark and service mark process contains many pitfalls along the way, which our California trademark and service mark attorneys can help you avoid, including the requirement of additional forms and payment of fees to show the USPTO that the goods or services are in use and, if not in use, to obtain extensions of time to file statements of use.

Once a trademark or service mark is granted, it must periodically be renewed. In the event another party infringes upon the use of your service mark, steps should be taken immediately by a client's lawyer or by the attorneys and lawyers working with our Southern California law firm from other law firms to protect their service mark rights, whether a client lives in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, San Bernardino, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, the Central Coast or Santa Barbara County, California.