Yet another example of a firm
press release announcing the registration of its trademark by the
United States Patent and Trademark Office.
SaVi Media Group Receives Registered Trademark for "DynoValve(R)"
SANTA ANA, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- February 16, 2007 -- SAVI MEDIA GROUP, INC. (OTCBB: SVMI) announces the Trademark registration of our core emission control device, the DynoValve from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office have allowed for the registration trademark on one of our core emission control devices, the "DynoValve." The registration number for our DynoValve emission control product is 3204740. The trademark is officially effective on January 30, 2007.
"With our newly trademark registration for the DynoValve and our trademark registration of the DynoValvePro this past November addresses that Savi is fully committed to the name brand protection of our emission control product assets on a long term basis," stated Steve Botkin, Chief Information Officer of SaVi Media Group, Inc.
This is generally a nice release, however it implies, like all of the other press releases I've seen, that SaVi's trademark rights begin on the effective date of registration: "The trademark is
officially effective on January 30, 2007." The press agent could have simply said that the registration is effective on January 30, 2007.
Trademark rights are accrued through use, not registration. BUT, registration gives the trademark owner certain advantages including:
- Trademark registration provides constructive notice of the registration, and defeats a claim that an infringer did not know that the company's trademark was registered;
- Federal trademark registration establishes federal jurisdiction to file a trademark infringement action in federal court;
- Federal trademark registration may be the basis to be awarded treble (triple) damages;
- Federal trademark registration establishes the presumptive right of the trademark owner to use the trademark throughout the country;
- The presumptive right can become incontestable with five years of continuous use and the filing of and acceptance of a declaration of incontestability;
- Other companies that conduct a trademark search prior to adopting a trademark would most likely not adopt a mark exactly the same or similar to the company's trademark;
- A registration on the Principal Register (but not Supplemental Register) may be deposited at the U.S. Custom Service to bar importation of goods bearing an infringing trademark;
- A registration on the Principal Register can be the basis for the seizure of counterfeit or infringing merchandise;
- A federal trademark registration may be used as collateral to secure a loan because a trademark registration is viewed as the embodiment of the goodwill symbolized by the trademark; and
- For those companies that wish to expand internationally, the date of registration may be used as the priority date in other countries, if they are a member of an international treaty, such as the Paris Convention.
Assuming no conflict, for the relatively low cost of registration as compared to the value of the trademark, registration is a no brainer.
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