Question of the Day: What happens if someone registers your trademark before you do? If you’re the first user of a trademark, and a second user registers the mark with the USPTO first, you can continue to use it only within your established geographic market. You have senior rights in those areas. The second user can enter those geographic markets. However, you can’t use the mark in other areas. Your geographic market becomes “frozen” when the second user registers the mark. They can use the mark everywhere else in the U.S. If you only operate online, your market will naturally grow just from being online; thus, the registration by the second user often forces the first user to shut down their business because the first user can’t continue to operate without violating the second user’s rights in the registered trademark.
If legal questions were easy, we wouldn’t need lawyers.
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Ruth Carter is an attorney at Venjuris Law Firm in Phoenix, Arizona – a firm that focuses on business, intellectual property, and internet law. They are also a professional speaker, blogger, and author through Carter Law Firm.
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Disclaimer: This video does not constitute legal advice. Watching this video does not create an attorney-client relationship with any viewer. If you need personalized legal advice, hire an attorney.
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