Category: Invention Marketing

You might wonder what is required in the drawing for my trademark?

Every trademark application must include one clear depiction of the mark, which is referred to as “the drawing.” If you have variations on the mark you are registering, each variation requires its own separate application and fee.

There are two types of drawings.  These are “standard character” and “special form.”

If your drawing consists solely of letters, words or numbers then it is a standard character drawing.  This type of drawing protects the wording itself and does not limit the mark to a specific style, font, size or color.  Therefore, this type of drawing gives you better protection than a special form drawing. A standard character drawing must have the following: (1) no design element; (2) no stylization of lettering and/or numbers; (3) not any letters and words in Latin characters; (4) not any numbers in Roman or Arabic numerals; and (4) only common punctuation or common pronunciations of a letter above or below which it is written, these are diacritical marks. The United States Patent office has created a standard character set that lists letters, numerals, punctuation marks, and diacritical marks that may be used in a standard character drawing. You may view these on the USPTO’s website at http://www.uspto.gov/teas/standardCharacterSet.html.

If your drawing includes a design or logo, alone or with wording, or if the particular style of lettering or particular color(s) is important then it is considered a special form drawing. If you are seeking registration of a word(s) combined with a design or logo, the drawing must depict both the word(s) and the design or logo combined as one image.

You might also want to know how do I file these drawings. 

For filing a standard character drawing electronically, the Trademark Electronic Application System or TEAS generates a standard character drawing for you, based on the information you enter on the form under “enter the mark here.” When filing on paper, you must use standard letter-size paper and include the following at the top of the “drawing page” as part of your application: applicant’s name; correspondence address; and the following statement: “The mark is presented in standard character format without claim to any particular font style, size or color.” The representation or drawing of the mark must appear in the middle of the page.

For filing a special form drawing file electronically, you must upload an image of your mark into the TEAS form. The mark image must be in .jpg format and should have a minimal amount of white space surrounding the design of the mark. Mark images should not include the trademark, service mark or registration symbols (for example, TM, SM, ®). Unless a color image is being submitted for a mark wherein color is claimed as a feature of the mark, the mark image should be black and white. When you file on paper, you must use standard letter-size paper and include the applicant’s name and correspondence address at the top of the drawing page as part of your application. The mark must appear in the middle of the page, and consist of the entire mark, i.e., word(s) and design.

You may also wonder if it is better to submit a black and white drawing or a color drawing?

A black and white drawing will cover use of your mark in any color so you may submit a black and white drawing. However, if it is important that your customers associate specific colors in your mark with your product, you may wish to limit your mark.  You could claim those colors as part of your mark, then you must also submit a color drawing of your mark that matches the colors you are claiming. If you do submit a color drawing, you must also submit the following: (1) a “color claim” naming the color(s) and stating that the color(s) is a feature of the mark, and (2) a separate statement describing the mark and specifically describing where the color(s) appears in the mark.

After you receive your trademark registration, you might wonder what the next steps are and what do I need to do to maintain the registration.

Within approximately two (2) months after you have filed your Statement of Use and it is approved, the United States Patent Office will issue a registration.  You must file specific maintenance documents and/or make payments to keep this registration “live” or it will result in cancellation and/or expiration of the registration.  If your registration is cancelled or expired, you must file a brand new application and start the entire process over again.  Also, if your trademark was previously registered and approved, this does not guarantee registration again when you submit a new application.

If your trademark is registered, you should monitor the status of your registration through the Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) yearly.  You will have to renew your mark between five and six years after its registration date, followed by additional 10 year renewal periods. Make sure you check the status of your registration, especially after you have made any filings required to maintain your registration.

It is very important to ensure that all information that you file is accurate.  For example, if the goods or services that are currently identified in the registration are not being used, they should be deleted from the registration, when filings are submitted.  If you do not delete these, the registration could be challenged because it may contain goods and services that are not in use.

After your mark has been on the Principal Register for five years you can also file a Section 15 declaration of incontestability. This just means that your trademark will be incontestable. You don’t want to forget to file for incontestability because this will ensure you have additional protection in the event of a dispute.

It is also very critical, as it becomes necessary to update your correspondence address and update the owner address.  Changing the owner’s address will not change the correspondence address or vice versa. Usually, old or outdated information in the USPTO database is caused by a registrant failing to notify the Office of a change in ownership of a trademark because the business changed its name, was sold, or for some other reason.  You can fix the discrepancy by filing an Assignment.

If you receive registration, it is your responsibility for enforcing your rights because the USPTO does not “police” the use of trademarks.  While the USPTO does attempt to ensure that no other party receives a trademark registration for an identical or similar mark, you, as the owner of the registration, are responsible for bringing any legal action to stop a party from infringement.  If you suspect that a registered mark is being infringed upon, you can record the registered mark with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

It is always important to hire an attorney to guide you through the whole process of registering for a trademark.

Most successful inventors and product development companies will start with a Proof of Concept Analysis before they start spending money.

A full Proof of Concept Analysis consists of three important parts.  These consist of Business Analysis, Ownership Analysis and Product Analysis.  You might want to consider starting with the one that you consider to be the weakest link in the chain.  For example, if you think ownership might be an issue, you might do a pretty strong patent, product and industry search, especially if you think you have seen something similar.

Next, you probably want to do an overview and make sure your invention is worth pursuing.  The questions you come up with will help form the basis of your development process.

For the Business Analysis, you want to identify the market’s size. You can do this by using statistics found in trade magazines and websites, the Census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics or by comparing a similar or competitive product.

After identifying the market’s size, you should consider the basic cost and price point, which you derive from by comparison.  For example, a motorized sheet metal cutter could be guesstimated by adding the cost of a drill with a motor approximately the size you need and a manual cutter.  You could simply add them up with a factor for assembly and you’ve got your retail price point.  Do you think that this is in the price range of your potential customer?  If so, you could move forward.  If not this will give you some idea of what you should do.  

A business analysis cannot be complete without having an understanding of how the industry works and who are the players.  

For the ownership analysis, you should do a preliminary patent, Product and Industry Search so you can determine how much you could own and how important this is to the success of your product.  You should also look in the stores, catalogs and on the web for competitive products that are not patented.  Also look at company or manufacturers catalogs and websites to find products that may not have a patent and have failed miserably in the market and therefore will not be found for sale.  These also still count. 

For product analysis, you need to have a working prototype to work with and find the flaws.  

By doing this product analysis, you can better allocate your hard earned resources to a winning invention or come up with something better another day.  

You could always discuss your inventions or products with a patent attorney and they can help you determine if your invention is worth your time and money.

If you are seeking the benefit of marking your invention as “Patent Pending”, you must make a good faith effort to make sure that your invention is properly marked.  If you mark your invention as “Patent Pending” this should be effective.  When using this notice, it alerts the public that your invention may soon be patent protected and that once a patent is issued, you have the right to initiate a patent infringement lawsuit against someone who is potentially infringing on that patent and you may seek seek monetary damages or other remedies for the copying, etc. of your patented invention.

You may only mark your invention as “Patent Pending” if the patent application has been filed with the Patent office.  Also note it is a criminal offense to mark or offer to sell an invention as “Patent Pending,” when a patent application has not been filed yet.

In deciding how and where to mark inventions as “Patent Pending”, you should be mindful of the purpose of giving public notice.  For example, patent markings may be formed directly on the “Patent Pending” article by etching, molding, or printing, or if you are unable to place the marking on the invention itself due to “the character of the invention”, the notice may be provided on the packaging of the invention. In addition, there may be particular challenges that you may endure to properly mark an invention.  For example, often times, labels may fall off in transit.  The courts will generally follow the “rule of reason” approach to hold that constructive notice is achieved when the patent applicant or patentee consistently mark substantially all of the inventions.

Once a patent has been issued for the invention and you are a patentee rather than a patent applicant, the marking on the invention should be changed from “Patent Pending” and instead be marked with the patent number and marked as follows: e.g., “U.S. Pat. No. XX,XXX,XXX”.  You can find examples of the proper use of the patent number marking on the products and packaging of many reputable manufacturers, if you would like a better example.  Also, recently, the America Invents Act (AIA) allows patented articles to be marked “virtually” via the internet.  

It is best to consult an attorney to determine how to mark your invention ‘virtually” and before moving forward with notices or marking of your invention.

A prototype for a patent is a model, first creation, draft, or patent drawing of an invention. You might wonder if you can patent your idea without a prototype? Prototypes are required in rare cases.  For example, ideas for time machines or free energy devices do require prototypes.  In most cases, you can patent your idea without a prototype but it can be useful in showing the United States Patent Office that your invention works properly and it is not just an idea.  Examiners do prefer to see a prototype but prototypes can be costly. Therefore, if you believe you can submit a patent application that sufficiently describes your invention in great detail than you can take the chance of going without a prototype.  

Even though developing a prototype could be costly, an advantage of developing a prototype is that you could learn additional details about your invention and you may make changes and improvements during prototyping which might improve your chances of your patent being granted.  A prototype could explain your idea much more thoroughly than other patent application resources like the drawings or descriptions. Because of the fact that details and fully understanding an idea are critical in the patent application process, it may be a good idea for you to create a prototype.

Also, creating a prototype does more than just increase the quality of your patent application. Building a working prototype requires extensive research and consideration. Prototyping helps the inventor understand the requirements for production of an idea such as the design, procedure, and limitations. Additional benefits to prototyping your idea include: determining whether the invention will work or not; deciding what modifications should be made to the invention; finding out and fixing potential design problems; identifying alternative solutions to problems; and marketing the invention to third parties, such as donors or buyers.

If you are wondering if creating a prototype is best for you, you should seek the advice of an attorney.

It is important for you to have an understanding of why trademarks are important assets and can help your business to grow.

Trademarks are a very effective communication tool. With a single brand or logo, trademarks can convey positive or negative messages about you, your company, and your company’s reputation, products and services.

Trademarks can make it easy for customers to find you. Customers viewing a trademark will immediately know which business they are dealing with. Your brand could be the critical factor in helping a customer decide whether or not to purchase from you.

Trademarks help businesses to effectively utilize the Internet and social media.  Usually your brand is the first thing customers enter into a search engine or social media platform when looking for your products and/or services.

Trademarks can appreciate in value over time which makes it very valuable for your business, which can lead the way for your business to expand. Trademarks are a property asset that can be bought, sold, licensed or used as a security interest to secure a loan to grow your business.

Trademarks can make hiring easier.  Brands can inspire positive feelings in people’s minds. As a result, employment opportunities become more attractive to candidates. Also, employee retention can be higher if your employees have positive feelings for the brand and the products and services that are offered. 

Trademarks are a bargain and do not expire. The United States Patent and Trademark Office charges as little as $275 to obtain trademark registration.  To maintain a Trademark, it only costs a few hundred dollars after five years and another few hundred dollars every ten years.  This is a good bargain.  Your trademark will not expire as long as you are using it in United States commerce.

Keep in mind that the more you make your brand your own, the easier it’ll be to protect. Choose a name and logo that distinctly identifies your business and will protect your business from competitors.

If you are interested in obtaining a trademark, talk to an attorney to help you with the process.

Do you want to have success marketing your product? Having success does not mean relying on your luck. Successful entrepreneurs know ways to come up with good products, time and again. You don’t want to learn from entrepreneurs that are not successful.  Learn from entrepreneurs who “nailed it.”

Are you wondering how you could create a unique product and would like some tips?  Here are some tips that I hope will help you.

You can have a unique product by focusing on making certain existing characteristics about your product more differentiated and this does not necessarily have to be physical qualities.  For example, you could offer a different form of customer service by investing in additional support staff, training videos, tutorials and documentation. You can also reconfigure your value activities to make your product more unique.  For example you could reconfigure your customer support content so that customer acquisition segues into customer loyalty through unique video tutorials, productivity guides and a variety of other content focused on tutorials, guides and videos.

Also, you should get organized about collecting customer data.  Collect notes about your conversations with customers, your market research and your analytics.  Can you find them all in one place or just scattered everywhere. Keep it all in one place. Gather insights about your customers and this will help you learn about how you could serve them better. Also, look for behavioral insights about your customers.  Find out what they do as a group.  Don’t just concentrate on numbers relating to market size. 

You should also try new things in the right way and come up with new things that yield value.  You should also find the language to communicate about your new thing or new product. You should build support for your new product in people’s heads and hearts. New things can turn out to be very hard for people to think about but fortunately, this can be worked around.  We mostly reason by analogy, metaphor, or by comparison. You should find clear metaphors to convey what your new product does.  

I hope these suggestions will help you create a unique and successful product.