$600 opposition or $50 Letter of Protest
If you have a registered trademark and someone else is trying to register a mark that is very similar to yours, you’ll want to speak up. You invested all of that time, energy, and money into marketing your products or services. You don’t want someone trading on your name and stealing your goodwill. Worse yet, if you don’t tend your fences, you could lose your trademark altogether. But what can you do?
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) offers you two paths: 1. file an opposition, or2. submit a letter of protest.An opposition is the more expensive option of the two. It will cost you $600 just to file and then thousands of dollars to prosecute if you hire an attorney. An opposition is similar to litigation: there is a complaint, an answer, discovery, motions, etc. You don’t have to hire an attorney but your odds are much better if you do.If that option does not fall within your budget, you could instead file a letter of protest for $50 and no further commitment to attorneys or time.
米国特許商標庁 (USPTO) 商標_動画 (embedded) vol.31