Orange County Trademark Attorney

Trademark Application and Renewal Facts

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office website, trademark law is designed to protect a proprietary “word, phrase, symbol, or design, or a combination thereof, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.”

Specific application procedures and requirements, which the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has developed, help ensure that valid trademarks are protected and legal challenges kept to a minimum. A trademark attorney Orange County law partner is well-versed in these requirements and can explain them more fully.

Trademark Types

Trademarks can be of various types, depending on their purpose. A list of the types, along with a brief description of each, follows below:

• Service Mark: a trademark that represents a service, rather than a good, or product.


• Certification Mark: a trademark owned by a certifying entity, used to endorse the goods or services of others, and certify that they meet a specific standard. Though owned by the certifying agent, a certification mark is used by the party being certified.


• Collective Mark: a commercial trade or service mark used by members of collective groups, such as unions, associations, cooperatives, or other organizations. This includes marks indicating membership in the group or organization.

Brand Names as Trademarks

Your trademark can be the perfect way to protect your brand name. Because your brand name represents your brand identity, you’ll want to select a strong one right from the start – one that will be less open to legal challenges or trademark infringement.

The most credible brand names are those referred to as “fanciful” names, which were originally designed to function as trademarks. Next in credibility come “arbitrary” names, the names of commonly known objects, which are used in a new and different sense than the original word. “Suggestive” names come next in degree of credibility and legal protection. These assign a particular attribute or characteristic to the product. And finally, “descriptive” names, the weakest kind, simply describe a product in a more general way. These enjoy the least legal protection, since they tend to be so generic as to not be legally enforceable.