How to register a trademark for Travel and Lodging
Introduction
There’s nothing more frustrating than coming up with a great brand for your travel business, only to find out that someone else has already used that name. Fortunately, there are several ways to protect your brand from this scenario by filing trademark applications with the USPTO. If you’re thinking about registering your travel and lodging mark, here’s what you need to know:
What Is a Trademark?
A trademark is a word, phrase, logo or another symbol that identifies the source of a product or service. It provides legal protection to the owner of the mark by preventing others from using it in commerce.
Trademark registration is not required for you to use a trademark in connection with your goods and services; however, you can register your trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Once you have registered your mark(s), it will be easier for you to protect them against infringers who may seek to capitalize on their goodwill by offering similar products or services under similar names.
Steps to Register a Trademark
Before you can start the process of registering a trademark, it’s important to understand what a trademark is.
A trademark is a word, name or symbol that identifies and distinguishes the source of goods or services from others in the marketplace. If you have an idea for a new business name or logo, it’s important to assess whether your idea might be protected by a trademark before investing time and money into creating and marketing your brand.
Choosing the Right Trademark for Your Business
Choosing the right trademark for your business is a very important step. Before you move forward with the process, it’s important to understand some of the criteria that will help you make an informed decision.
You should choose a trademark that is unique. If there are other trademarks that are similar to yours, or even identical, then it could be difficult for consumers to distinguish between them and remember which company owns which mark. If this happens, then consumers may not be able to associate your brand with your product or service if they encounter it on their own—and this could hurt sales!
You should also consider whether or not your chosen brand has any negative connotations associated with it. It’s possible that certain words might evoke unpleasant feelings in potential customers (i.e., “cold”). This can discourage potential buyers from purchasing products from your company even if they like what you have to offer!
How to Determine Whether a Mark Is Eligible for Federal Registration
The first step in the federal registration process is to determine whether your mark is eligible for federal registration. A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others. The Trademark Act prohibits registration of any mark which is likely to cause confusion with an existing registered mark or with another pending application; or which falsely describes or misrepresents a geographical origin; or which dilutes a famous mark by blurring its distinctiveness (generally by tarnishing it).
Trademarks fall into five categories: generic, descriptive, suggestive, arbitrary and fanciful. Generic marks cannot be protected under trademark law because they are not distinctive (for example APPLE for computers). Descriptive marks describe an aspect of the product being sold but do not serve to identify a particular source (for example DENTAL FLOSS for dental floss). Suggestive marks suggest something about the product but do not describe it directly (for example GRAVITY SPRINGS for spring water produced near waterfalls.) Arbitrary and fanciful marks are distinctive because they have no logical relationship to their corresponding products—arbitrary trademarks may have been made up while fanciful trademarks resemble words used in literature or mythology (for example APPLEBEE’S RESTAURANT & BAR and KABUKI JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE).
Filing an Intent-to-Use Application with the USPTO
Once you have decided on a name for your business and are ready to register a trademark, it is important to file as soon as possible. You can do this either by filing an Intent-to-Use (ITU) application or by filing what is known as a Statement of Use (SOU).
If you have not yet used the mark in commerce and want to protect it from infringement before using it, then you will need to file an ITU. This means that the filing date of your application will be the date when you first use the mark in commerce. The USPTO recommends doing this within six months after submitting your application; however, if they decide that there has been no delay in usage between when they received your ITU and now, they may agree with extending that time period.
Filing a Use-Based Application with the USPTO
When filing a use-based application, you must show that the mark has been used in commerce. The USPTO will look at things like advertising and other evidence of use to determine if your mark has been used. If your application is accepted, you will be granted a registration number for that trademark and can begin using it on goods and services immediately.
If you filed an intent-to-use application prior to October 6th 2018, you may continue using this process (provided those applications were pending before then). If not, then they must switch over to the new system by filing a new form. In addition, there are now specific rules for converting an intent-to-use application into one based on the actual use or abandonment of the such application.
Post-Registration Considerations for Travel and Lodging Marks
Once you’ve established your trademark, it’s important to keep up with the maintenance. You should:
- Keep an eye on the status of your mark. If a third party challenges your registration, you may need to defend it in court (and incur legal fees in doing so).
- Use your trademark correctly and make sure that everyone who works for you does, too. This means using the correct font, spelling and punctuation when promoting or advertising products or services associated with your brand.
- Consider licensing options before pursuing litigation against competitors infringing on your trademark rights by using confusingly similar versions of a similar mark in their own advertising efforts
If you are going to register your trademark, plan ahead and make sure you are protecting your brand from the start.
If you are going to register your trademark, plan ahead and make sure you are protecting your brand from the start. You don’t want to be the last person in line when someone else grabs it first.
Think about how your business will grow and what kind of reputation or image it will have. For example, if you are planning on opening a hotel chain, then there is no need to get a trademark for each individual hotel because that would be too costly and confusing for customers. When registering trademarks for things like hotels or restaurants, it’s best not to limit yourself by trying to protect everything related only to those industries (e.g., ‘Hotel XYZ’). Instead, think about what unique aspect of these businesses makes them stand out from others nearby—for example: “We serve our own brand of coffee made from locally grown beans.” This way people won’t confuse us with any other local establishment that sells coffee!
Conclusion
Registering your brand can be a great way to protect your business from being copied. It also helps you get ahead of the competition by giving you an edge over them when it comes to marketing and advertising. If you are going to register your trademark, plan ahead and make sure you are protecting your brand from the start.
