Legal Requirements

There are four basic requirements for filing a trademark (or service mark) with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The first requirement is the mark must be filed under the name of the actual owner of the mark. The owner of the mark is the person who controls the nature and the quality of the goods sold or the services rendered under the mark. The owner does not have to be an individual; the owner can be a partnership, a corporation, or an association. If the owner is a corporation, then the applicant's name is the name of the corporation. If you are a one-person operation or small business using Summitsoft’s logo design software, Logo Design Studio, to establish your look, you can also use a service like LegalZoom to get incorporated, get non-profit status, or become an LLC or DBA.

The second requirement is that the applicant specify what type of entity it is (individual, corporation, etc). The applicant must fill in national citizenship, although being a U.S. citizen is not required.

The third requirement is the application must be based on an actual use or on a real intention to use the mark in business. For the application to be based on actual use, the applicant should indicate what products he or she has actually placed the mark on and sold for business. A mark for services will be considered "actual use" when it is used or displayed in the sale or advertising of services and the services are actually rendered. This can be easily done when using Logo Design Studio, or other logo design software from Summitsoft, by creating your name and mark and then displaying the mark(s) on your website, newsletters, advertisements, packaging or any other marketable material. 

When you are filing an intent-to-use application, it is sufficient that you make a statement in good faith that you plan to use the mark in commerce. However, you will have to actually use the mark before it can actually be registered. The USPTO will first issue the Notice of Allowance, which gives you six months to either use the mark in commerce or file for an extension. Once the Statement of Use is filed, the USPTO will issue the registration certificate.

The final requirement is that you submit a drawing of the mark and a specimen of the mark when the application is based on actual use. A specimen is a real-world example of how the mark is actually used on the goods or in a service. Labels, tags, or containers for the goods are considered to be acceptable specimens of use for a trademark. Logo Design Studio makes it easy to print a drawing of the mark by allowing you to export or print directly from the software; this includes creating a PDF document that clearly shows your logo design, name and/or other mark that can then be printed and sent in with the specimen.

For a service mark, specimens may be advertising such as magazine advertisements or brochures. Actual specimens, rather than facsimiles, are preferred. However, if the actual specimens are bulky, or larger than 8½" x 11", then the applicant must submit facsimiles, (e.g., photographs or good photocopies) of the specimens. A drawing is a page that depicts the mark you seek to register. In an application based on actual use, the drawing must show the mark as it is actually used, i.e., as shown by the specimens. In the case of an application based on a real intention to use, the drawing must show the mark as the applicant intends to use it. A drawing is necessary even when a specimen is submitted.