Your Trademark Attorney Blog – Morris Turek

A couple of weeks ago, a potential client called me from California wanting to federally register his trademark.  He had already been using it for a few months but never conducted a trademark search prior to adopting it.  Of course, I advised him that it would be a wise idea to at least perform a search of the federal trademark records to see whether there were any existing trademark registrations or pending trademark applications for confusingly similar marks that would clearly prevent the registration of his trademark.  He agreed with my recommended course of action, but then asked whether I offer a guarantee that his trademark application would eventually become a trademark registration.  When I told him that I couldn’t provide such an assurance, he seemed somewhat taken aback.  After all, why would a trademark attorney advise someone to file a trademark application if it isn’t going to be accepted by the Trademark Office?  Well, although a skilled and experienced trademark attorney will certainly give his client an informed opinion as to whether a trademark application is likely to mature into a trademark registration, there are simply way too many variables in the trademark registration process for any attorney to offer an iron-clad guarantee of registration.
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