How a Trademark Attorney Uses the Internet for Legal and Trademark Searching (Life Circle Approach)
The Life Cycle of a trademark begins with the inception of the mark and progresses through several phases including investigation, registration, maintenance and commercial exploitation of the mark. In recent years, the proliferation of the internet has made it an increasingly important tool for cost effectively acquiring information related to the acquisition and protection of trademarks. This paper attempts to direct the reader to specific sites which may prove useful in obtaining trademark information.
Primary sources of information relating to trademarks are available on the internet and may be accessed through a variety of sites, a number of which are listed below. Primary sources include statutory laws, case law, regulations, and practitioners manuals.
Statutes:
The University of Arizona Library,Legal/Law/Regulations
Cornell University, Legal Information Institute, TM Law Material
Yale University, Reference Homepage, Primary Sources, Decisions, Statutes, Regulations
US House of Representative Internet Law Library Home Page
University of Pennsylvania, Library, Federal Law Resources
New York University, Law Library
University of Indiana, Online Research Resources
George Washington University, Research Sites on the Internet
University of South California, Legal Resources on the web
Washburn University School of Law, Federal Primary Law
Findlaw Internet Legal Resources
Master McNeil Inc., trademark information
Findlaw Cyberspace Law Center, General Legal Resources
Cases:
http://www.ilrg.com/courts.html
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/refprim.htm
Harvard University, Hollis Plus, US Supreme Decisions
University of Pennsylvania, Library, Federal Law Resources
Washington University, US Government Documents and Resources
University of Georgia School of Law, Legal Resources on the Internet
Chicago Kent:IP Law Internet Resources
Saint Louis University, School of Law
University of Indiana, Online Research Resources
George Washington University, Research Sites on the Internet
Gorgetown University, Law Library
University of South California, Legal Resources on the web
Washburn University School of Law, Federal Primary Law
Findlaw Internet Legal Resources
Cornell University, Legal Information Institute and Hermes
Findlaw Cyberspace Law Center, General Legal Resources
Regulations:
US Patent & Trademark Office, Trademark Trials & Appeal Board Manual of Procedure
US Patent & Trademark Office, Trademark Manual Examining Procedure
House of Representatives-37 C.F.R
Yale University, Reference Homepage, Primary Sources, Decisions, Statutes, Regulations
US House of Representative Internet Law Library Home Page
University of Pennsylvania, Library, Federal Law Resources
Washington University, US Government Documents and Resources
George Washington University, Research Sites on the Internet
University of South California, Legal Resources on the web
Findlaw Internet Legal Resources
In addition to primary law sources, secondary source information relating to trademarks is available through the internet. These secondary sources, noted below, include both analytical sources such as law review articles and and current awareness sites featuring recent developments in trademark law.
Analytical:
The Villanova Center for Information Law & Policy
Cardozo Arts&Entertainment Law Journal
The John Marshall Law School Intellectual Law
The Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review
Gregory H. Gillot, All about Trademark
Saint Louis University, School of Law
New York University, Law Library
University of Indiana, Online Research Resources
The world wide web virtual library law journals
Current awareness
Kuester Law Technology Law Resources-Patent Copyright Trademark
The Journal of Intellectual Property. Hot IP News
The world wide web virtual library law journals
Law firms commonly provide web sites on the internet to promote services and attract clients. Generally these sites provide a basic overview of intellectual property laws. Additionally, these sites typically include an overview of the firm including information such as the firm size, law specializations, and clientele. Links may also be provided to additional sources including, current awareness sites, newsletter subscription services, and primary legal sources, including recent case decisions.
Law firms may also offer services directly over the web. For trademarks in particular, law may advertise preliminary search services where a mark may be supplied to a firm directly through the web, whereupon the firm will perform a desired search and forward the results to the client.
Addtional services may include maintenance subscriber services, where a firm will inform you of filing deadlines to maintain a registered mark, or trademark watch services where a firm will monitor new trademarks which are published for opposition in the Official Gazette.
The following are a sampling of law firm sites which provide information as discussed herein:
http://www.ladas.com/middle.html
Several resources for executing trademark searches are available through the internet. These resources may includes search databases, where for a prescribed fee, a registered user can execute their own search for federal, state and foreign trademark registrations. Alternatively, search services are available to perform trademark searches. These searches may include common law searches including business and yellow pages directories, domain name and internet searches, in addition to federal, state, and foreign trademark registrations.
Search databases
The two primary trademark search databases are provided by Microptatent and Thomson & Thomson.
Visit Micropatent now.
Micropatent's search database "THE TRADEMARK CHECKER" contains all U.S. federal trademark registrations which are on file in electronic form at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The data includes all new applications and actively registered trademarks since 1884, plus any marks that have expired or been abandoned since 1984. The database contains 17 searchable fields. Three subscription services are provided for daily, monthly or annual access. The user fees are as follows:
$ 20/day for unlimited searching for any number of marks.
$ 100/month for unlimited searching.
$ 995/year for unlimited searching.
Micropatent also offers free access to the Official Trademark Gazette.
Visit Thomson & Thomson now.
The Thomson & Thomson "TRADMARKSCAN"database allows searching to be performed for federal,state, and foreign registrations. The database is updated twice a week. The data base can be accessed online through CompuServ, for example, and a trademark search may be performed for a prescribed fee plus connection time. The least costly search is currently a single database search; e.g., federal registration database, costing $25. This search will retrieve the five closest hits for a given mark.
Thomson & Thomson also provides extensive search services. For a prescribed fee T&T will perform any of several specialized services,some of which are listed below:
U.S. Full Availability Search $ 355
Federal & State register searches $ 255
Federal, State, or Common Law $ 180
Search services
Several search services are available on-line for perform trademark searches. While the range of search points varies from one service to another, it is noted that comprehensive searches including federal, state, and foreign registers, as well as internet, business directory, yellow pages and domain name searches are offered for as little as $100.
http://www.trademarkresearch.com
http://www.trademark-search.com
http://www.thomson-thomson.com/netscape/docs/main/TMSTOOLS.html
Net directory
Internet directories.AT&T 800 Directory.Index of Directories
http://www.december.com/cmc/info
Searching engines
In addition to search databases and search services, common law searches can also be performed directly through use of internet browsers. Several search engines are currently available, including YAHOO, ALTAVISTA. Because each search engines operates differently, comparing results retrieved from several different browsers can provide an useful and cost effective means for locating marks in use.
There are many sources available on the internet for information relating to the life-cycle of trademarks. Effective monitoring and utilization of these resources can provide a cost effective means for obtaining information and performing client services. However, care must be taken to ensure that information retrieved from these databases is reliable and current. At best I would recommend using internet sources as a preliminary source of information, to be supplemented with up to date searching using more conventional sources.
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