Most people are aware of the numerous benefits of having a trademark registration within Principal Register belonging to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In fact, Online Trademark Registration Search India owners are urged by trademark attorneys to select distinctive marks in a position to be able to, upon use in interstate commerce, be registered there and savor numerous presumptions such as validity, ownership, and notice. However, the Supplemental Register also has value, especially as soon as the alternative is your own the question initially.

Before the primary advantages of being supplementally registered is discussed, it is important to understand that which a supplemental registration doesn’t provide. Marks are often relegated to the Supplemental Register because, at the request of the USPTO examining attorney, the marks are merely descriptive and therefore not a distinctive identifier of the source of the goods or services to which the objective pertains. Such placement does not give the exclusive right to use the mark in commerce in expertise of its identified services or goods. Equally important, it does not serve as prima facie evidence of the validity of the registered mark or of the trademark registrant’s ownership of the mark. Finally, it may an admission how the mark is not inherently distinctive.

While these drawbacks obviously warrant a mark owner’s wish to be registered on the main Register, a supplemental registration has advantages of its own. In fact, some entities choose to possess a brand that tells consumers what everyone they are offering (e.g. Pizza Restaurant) as opposed to an inherently distinctive mark (.e.g. Domino’s) that needs effort to create consumer recognition. Such marks are not going to warrant principal placement, whilst they be supplementally licensed. After five years on the Supplemental Register, the mark may qualify for the main Register due there having acquired distinctiveness. It is worth noting that both allow the owner to use the registered trademark symbol, sue in federal court, and take advantage of certain international treaties.

Thus, any registration with the USPTO is better than having no trademark registration at completely. While ultimately the Principal Register provides the most benefits and best protection, the Supplemental Register should be considered where an entity prefers what is likely to be a merely descriptive mark at the outset or didn’t acquire the requisite distinctiveness to be registered on where lots of deem as favored spot.