Only a federally registered trademark or service mark affords the holder of the mark:
- Nationwide infringement protection.
- Provides constrictive notice to others of your ownership of the trademark or service mark.
- Allows the holder of the mark to sue in federal court for infringing uses.
- Protects against counterfeiting.
- Establishes a legal presumption that the holder of the mark possesses the right to exclusively use the mark in connection with the registered good or service.
- Use ones Federal registration as the basis for foreign registration.
- Prevent the importation of infringing foreign goods.
- Provides incontestability after five years.
- Use the ® symbol.
Federal registration also allows you to use the ® (the “Circle-R”) symbol. Any time you claim rights in a trademark, you may use the ™ (trademark) or ℠ (service mark) symbol to alert the public to your claim, regardless of whether you have filed an application with the USPTO. However, you can only use the federal registration symbol ® after the USPTO has actually registered the trademark, not without an application or while an application is pending. Following registration, you can only use the ® symbol on or in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the federal trademark registration.