To all orchid members:
Does someone know what a person needs to do to register a
hallmark? What address to contact? How to go about obtaining one
and what is the cost going to be? How long does it usually take?
Any other info I’ve missed would be appreciated. Thanks for
any responses.
Ron
Hi Ron (and anyone else who’s interested),
As far as I know you can establish a trademark on either the
state or the federal level. I was told that registering on the
state level is often done first in any case. Here in
Massachusetts the registration is good for ten years and they
will send notification before it expires to give you a chance to
renew. I can’t remember exactly what it cost me but know that
it was considerably less than the national level which was $250 I
think. You should be able to find the pertinent by
calling or writing to the trademark division of your state
government.
Good luck!
Elaine (MoonStones)
Hi Mike, You cannot establish a Trademark on the state level.
Only national. A trademark can be established one of two ways:
Either by use, in which one must use the name or mark
consistantly in inter-state commerce and be able to prove it, by
reciepts, or by having the work with this name published in a
magazine, or some other independent print source, catalog,
newspaper etc…In which case the name is automatically
Trademarked,(unless someone can prove that they used the name or
mark consistently, prior to you). Or, by registration. An
application for a Trademark must be filed with the PTO,(Patent
Trademark Office) a government agency reached through the Library
of Congress. Trademarks should be researched first to avoid
infringing on someone else’s, and this can be done at some
libraries. Trouble arises when someone has been using a name,
and someone else files for it after the fact. The one who used
the name first,(as long as that use was constant use in trade),
usually wins, but it requires a court decision. Trademark
infringement is serious, and expensive. Many people use lawyers
that only work in the Trademark field to research and file, but
you can do it yourself. Trademarks can be renewed after the
first six years, and then every ten years after that. How do I
know so much about the subject, besides having Trademarked my
company name, another jeweler is attempting to use my
Trademarked company name,“Byzantia” as we speak. I’ve retained a
lawyer, and written them a “Cease and Desist” letter, and we’ll
see what happens. I hope that it can be resolved amicably.
Good luck, Lisa
Regarding the trademark, does being registered in one state
apply to other states too? Or is it exclusive to whatever
state you registered in?
Since I’m reading this offline, I’m not going to do the searches
for you, but here’s the basics of what you need to get you
going…
The U.S. Patent and trademark office has a Web Site. Find it,
and you’ll find your answers…
By the way, you can, on that site, also do searches for most of
the U.S. patents that have been issued recently. Last time I
checked, I think they went back about 20 years online, maybe…
The site will show you the abstract of the patent, and for a
couple bucks (I think it was $3) , you can order the full text.
Hope this helps.
Peter Rowe
Regarding Trademarks: The PTO can answer all of your questions
as well as provide you with forms that can be downloaded if your
computer has the capacity. They can be reached at:
http://www.uspto.gov/web/menu/tm.html
This site is also for patents. For copywrite you can
reach The Library of Congress at their Site Search at:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/harvest/query-lc.html .
I believe that State Trademark registration is only good for that
single state. Good luck, Lisa
I’m thinking this varies by state. I just registered my trade
name in Arizona, for the low, low price of ten dollars. I don’t
have a trademark at this point, but if I did, I could register
that also with the Arizona Secretary of State for an additional
fifteen dollars. Might pay to check and see what the regs are in
your state. Your state Chamber of Commerce can probably advise
you.
lee
What is the hallmarking law in the US? Do you have register with a
central authority before you can sell silver with a hallmark? Does
silver have to be up to a certain standard? I’d like to compare it
with the hallmarking law in the UK.
Richard W
UK