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Articles - Trademark Monitoring Solicitation Services
From: Gregg R. Zegarelli, Esq.
Subject: Trademark Monitoring Services
QUESTION:
I own a Federal trademark registration, or I have applied
for a registration. I received a letter from a company that I have never heard of
regarding "trademark monitoring." In fact, I thought that the company was a
government agency because it had a name similar to "Official Patent and
Trademark Office Monitoring Service." It really looked like a
government document. What should I do?
ANSWER:
1. If you are a client of our law firm per a written engagement letter,
and our firm is handling your trademark registration or application, then we
have undertaken professional responsibility to ensure any necessary compliance
to maintain your filing. We have multiple deadline docketing systems to
ensure we meet any deadlines. That is why you hired us, we are licensed,
and we stand behind our work.
2. Particularly with the advent of the Internet and focus on
intellectual property, there are companies that have a look and feel of an
"official" government agency, either by name or appearance or both, so
that you will pay the money requested and hire them for services. To say
it another way, they "scare" you into hiring them by leading you to
believe it is a governmental notice. If our firm is attorney of record for
your trademark matters, then our collective experience is that the
correspondence is not an official document from a governmental
unit. Even so, if you receive a letter such as the question describes and
you are our client,
please send the communication to us, just to make sure we confirm its nature. We will
merely direct you to this webpage for the explanation, if the document is merely
advertisement from a private enterprise.
3. Notwithstanding the advertising "tactic," the issue still
remains whether you should hire the service. It depends. Often the
nature of the service is that the advertiser will monitor certain databases to
see if a trademark similar to yours is filed. The history, quality, etc.,
of the advertiser are for you to decide. As to the service generally, it
is not required. In fact, for the United States, you look on
www.uspto.gov
yourself to see if there have been similar filings. Our firm also has a
CheckMark<sm> service to perform a similar function at regular intervals;
let us know if you are interested.
4. If our staff directed you here with regard to a particular
advertisement, then you do not need to purchase the service to obtain or to
maintain a Federal trademark registration in the United States. We cannot
tell you not to purchase the service because there may be value in it for
you. However, since no company with which we have experience has a license
to perform the service, before buying such a service, you should ensure that the
company is credible and that you can find them if something goes
wrong.
We commonly assist our clients with their mark registration
and maintenance strategy. See also
MarkAssure Service. For more information, contact us at
info@zegarelli.com.
Contact us today! Our firm can assist
you with understanding and applying the law to your particular situation.
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Articles and information are for general information only, and often address
issues, without expressly indicating, in generalizations. Laws vary between and
among jurisdictions. You should not rely upon any
information provided by or on the website, including articles, as applicable to your
particular situation. The
law, filing fees, etc., change often, so the information in this document may
not be current. The laws of various jurisdictions may be different than provided
here. Please contact us at info@zegarelli.com
if you are interested in becoming our client--only then would this office be in
the position to provide advise with regard to your particular situation.
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