The trademark Supplemental Register provides a place for trademarks denied registration on the Principal Register for various reasons. While a federal trademark registration on the Supplemental Register does not provide all of the benefits of a federal trademark registration on the Principal Register, it can do a lot to protect your brand.
What is the Supplemental Register?
Trademark registration offers essential protection for brand owners.
Most business owners register their trademarks on the Principal Register. This is the “normal” place a trademark goes when registered. Some marks, though, have problems that prevent them from being included on the Principal Register. They can be included in the Supplemental Register.
The most common reason a mark gets onto the Supplemental Register is that it is descriptive of the goods or services it is to be used for and thus cannot properly function as a trademark. There are a few other reasons, but that is the big one.
Why Have Your Mark on the Supplemental Register?
Although trademarks included on the supplemental register do not receive all of the benefits of a registration on the Principal Register, it can often be better than nothing. The law doesn’t treat trademarks on the Supplemental Register as a full registration right off the bat.
However, over time, a trademark registered on the Supplemental Register may gain “acquired distinctiveness.”
When that happens, they move to the Principal Register.
Also, a trademark on the Supplemental Register bars similar marks from registration. That means that a registration on the Supplemental Register can help protect your brand.
Additionally, having a trademark on the Supplemental Register lets brand owners sue an infringer in federal court.
Finally, a registration on the Supplemental Register uses the ® symbol to show a registered mark.
How Do You Get Your Trademark From The Supplemental Register to the Principal Register?
Registering your trademark on the Principal Register of trademarks gives more legal benefits. It makes sense to ask how to get your trademark from the Supplemental Register to the Principal Register.
While moving a trademark from the Supplemental Register to the Principal Register is impossible, it is possible to file a new trademark registration for the same trademark on the Principal Register. For this to work, the trademark must have “acquired distinctiveness,” showing that the trademark has meaning beyond the literal words.
The Counsel for Creators trademark provides an example of how this works. We filed the initial trademark registration for Counsel for Creators on the Supplemental Register because the name Counsel for Creators describes the offering.
However, after five years had passed, we showed that the trademark had become known to consumers. That gave the trademark the acquired distinctiveness needed for us to register on the Principal Register. This required an additional trademark filing.
Leveraging Your Supplemental Register Trademark for Business Growth
Building a solid brand identity proves pivotal for creative business owners.
A trademark on the Supplemental Register offers a strategic asset in this journey.
While it might seem like a consolation prize compared to the Principal Register, savvy entrepreneurs use this asset to strengthen their brand.
For starters, the visibility of the ® symbol associated with your mark signals to competitors and customers alike that you take brand protection seriously. This often deters potential infringement and builds consumer trust in your brand’s authenticity and longevity.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks