Trademark Blog

I once received a telephone call from a guy located in Florida who was on the verge of opening a new business.  Apparently, he was thinking about using the LegalZoom trademark registration service to prepare and file his trademark application.  For those of you who don’t already know, LegalZoom is a do-it-yourself trademark service.  It’s not a law firm and it can’t offer any legal advice or guidance.  People who are looking to register a trademark with LegalZoom (God forbid) are asked to fill out a questionnaire that resembles the official USPTO trademark application form provided by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).  They submit their responses to LegalZoom along with a payment that covers LegalZoom’s service charge and the government filing fee for the trademark application.  Without checking for accuracy or completeness, LegalZoom transcribes the responses onto the USPTO application form and submits it on behalf of its customers.  There’s absolutely no review by LegalZoom as to whether the trademark is even eligible for registration, which is a problem considering that there are many categories of trademarks that are completely barred from being federally registered.

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First and foremost, I would like to thank the LegalZoom trademark service for this article.  I swear, the only good thing about LegalZoom is its uncanny ability to continually provide me with fodder to write about.  Just when I think I have nothing interesting to talk about, LegalZoom swoops in to save the day!

I occasionally work as an independent contractor to another trademark attorney here in St. Louis and frequently assist her clients with a variety of intellectual property matters.  She was hired by a client to respond to a trademark office action he received from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that requested some additional information and clarifications regarding his trademark and the products with which his mark is used.  I later learned that this client had used the LegalZoom trademark service (which is a do-it-yourself trademark service and not a law firm) to prepare and file his trademark application.  Of course, when he received this office action in his inbox, he had no idea what it was or how to properly respond to it.

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