Why Federally Register a Mark?

A mark can be registered at the state and/or federal level.  But, if you can get it, federal registration of a trademark beats state registration nearly every time.

With federal registration, you obtain national rights, there is no need to register the mark in 50 different states, each having somewhat different rules and providing somewhat different rights.  By obtaining such national rights, you sue to stop someone from using your mark (or something close to it) in a way that creates a “likelihood of confusion” among customers in the relevant market anywhere in the US.

Federal registration also gives you certain procedural advantages, including the ability to avoid filing separate suits in separate states to enforce your mark.  So if your mark is federally registerable, and you expect to be engaged in at least a little “interstate commerce” (e.g., advertising on the web, selling products across state lines, etc.), it would be prudent and reasonable to consider federal registration of the mark.

On the other hand, if your business will not engage in interstate commerce (typically this is only true for very local businesses, like gas stations, donut shops, etc., that do little or no advertising, have no web presence, etc.), then the home state trademark registration alone might make sense.

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