Trademark Basics

We would like to thank Craig Morris, Managing Attorney for Trademark Outreach at the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Virginia, for presenting Trademark Basics at the Mississippi Library Commission today.  Participants learned a great deal of information concerning the process of obtaining a quality trademark.

If you were unable to attend Trademark Basics and are still interested in information on trademarks you may contact MLC's Patent Librarian, Laurence Smith, via email at lsmith@mlc.lib.ms.us or by phone at 601-432-4120.

Fun Fact: Escalator was actually a trademarked name for moveable staircases by the Otis Elevator Company; however, the name became a generic descriptive term and fell into the public domain after the 1950 Haughton Elevator Co. v. Seeberger case.  This meant that the Otis Elevator Company could no longer hold trademark protection on the word "escalator." 

For more information on trademarks check out the following sites:

Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TEMP)

http://tmep.uspto.gov/RDMS/detail/manual/TMEP/current/d1e2.xml

Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual (ID Manual)

http://tess2.uspto.gov/netahtml/tidm.html

 Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)

 http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=4803:7qetwg.1.1

Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) 

http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-application-process/filing-online