Keep
Staying ahead of the deadlines and the lookalikes
A registration is not finished when it is issued.
It comes with dates: proof that you are still using the mark, renewals, and a window in which to object when someone files a name too close to yours. Miss one and the registration can lapse, and nobody sends a reminder you will notice.
I keep a calendar for each client’s marks and watch for new filings that sound like yours. When something does turn up, the first move is almost always a measured letter, not a lawsuit.
A calendar of every deadline for each mark you hold
Declarations of use and renewals, filed on time
Watching for new filings close to yours
Marketplace takedown reports
Letters when someone copies you, and replies when someone writes to you
Oppositions and cancellations, when a letter is not enough
The calendar of a registered mark
The dates come from the Trademark Office’s rules. I check them again for each mark.
At registration
The date goes on my calendar and yours, along with every date that follows.
Between the fifth and sixth year
A declaration that you are still using the mark, with a sample of how.
Between the ninth and tenth year
The first renewal, with another declaration of use, and again at each ten-year mark after that.
Whenever a letter arrives
Yours or someone else’s. Send it before you answer, and I will tell you how long you have.
When someone has copied you, or written to you
Someone is selling my design on a marketplace. Now what?
Keep the listing, screenshots and dates. Most marketplaces have a form for reporting copying, and a report from a lawyer with your registration attached tends to move faster. I will tell you what you can claim, and what you cannot yet.
I got a cease-and-desist letter. Should I answer?
Do not answer, and do not ignore it. Send it to me first. Many are bluster, some are fair, and the reply you write in the first hour is the one a lawyer later has to work around.
Do you file patents?
No. Patents are a different practice with their own exam, and I send them to patent attorneys I trust. I will tell you early if what you have made looks like a patent question.
Can you just watch for copycats?
Yes. Watching means a periodic search of new filings, with a note to you when something is close. It is priced as a small flat fee, quoted when we set up your calendar.
Seen your design for sale somewhere else?
Send me the link and the date you made yours. The first call is about what to do next.