Timing often doesn’t play a significant role in trademark filings. Because localized rights automatically arise through trademark use, an effort to expand those rights by obtaining a trademark registration is often driven by other factors.
In many cases, that works out fine. But in some, trademark owners should be more strategic — particularly with regard to timing. Here are three situations in which it pays to be smart about when to make trademark filings.
1. Beat third-party filers. Before alerting third parties about your trademark rights (through a cease-and-desist letter or otherwise), make sure your trademark house is in order. Part of that effort may involve applying to register the trademark. Even if you used your mark first, complaining about a third party’s infringing use may motivate that party to get their trademark house in order, too. If they beat your trademark filing by even a day, their application will be considered first. That risks delaying and even blocking your application, even if you have superior trademark rights. (Less nefariously, the same is true if a third party randomly happens to apply to register the same mark as yours.) Overcoming this obstacle can be a time-consuming and expensive undertaking. It’s so much better to avoid it by filing first.
2. Outsmart cybersquatters. Cybersquatters — people who register domain names on spec and make money selling them to trademark owners — routinely register domain names based on new trademark filings. They know if someone registers a trademark, they already have begun to invest in that brand. Cybersquatters rightly understand that many brand owners will pay a premium to own a domain name reflecting their name, particularly with the .com extension. Don’t let them profit from this logic. Trademark filings are public. Before showing your cards to the world, register your target domain name. Doing so before applying to register your trademark will ensure that your preferred domain name is yours — without delay and without enriching a cybersquatter.
3. Frustrate bad actors abroad. The United States is in the minority when it gives trademark rights to owners automatically through use. In most countries, the only way to get trademark rights is through registration. Like cybersquatters, free riders can take advantage of this norm by registering your brand in their country. Indeed, there’s nothing legally wrong with their doing so. Fortunately, there’s an easy solution: registering your trademark first. Doing so in the countries in which you manufacture and sell can eliminate the irony of infringing the trademark rights of someone who did nothing more than register your trademark first.