|
Learn something new every Thursday! Join over 4,000 entrepreneurs and business owners for weekly Trademark tips, tricks, and news.
June 2, 2025 TMtelegram Hello Reader, When you apply for a trademark, one of the things the USPTO checks is whether your drawing matches how you actually use the mark. If it doesn’t—especially if you’ve carved out just a piece of the full brand name—you might get hit with a refusal for “mutilation.” Yes, that’s a real trademark term. And it just tripped up a pharmaceutical company. In In re Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc., the company applied to register a stylized "V" with three dots above it,...
May 19, 2025 TMtelegram Hello Reader, Here’s a recent reminder from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB): sometimes, the name you pick for your product is just too on the nose to protect. That was the case in In re Jacobs Corporation, where the company tried to register the word BLADE as a trademark for a “hammer sold as an integral component of hammer mill machines.” The USPTO said no—and the TTAB backed them up. Why? Let’s break it down: 🔍 Jacobs argued: Their product is a hammer,...
May 12, 2025 TMtelegram Hello Reader, The USPTO rolled out a new trademark fee structure in January 2025. On the surface, it looks like a simple pricing adjustment—but if you work with hemp or CBD products, the reality is much more costly. Here’s what changed: 🚨 New Trademark Fee Structure (Effective Jan. 18, 2025): Base Application Fee: $350 per class Custom Descriptions: +$200 per class if you don’t use pre-approved ID Manual language Extra Length Fee: +$200 per 1,000 characters over the...