Q: I have a small business in New Hampshire and have been selling goods to customers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts for several years. How can I start protecting my company’s trademark?
A: It sounds like your company has been around for some time, so the mark has likely already started accumulating rights, at least in your geographic area. Simply applying the mark to a product or using the mark to provide a product/service, creates “common law” trademark/service mark rights, which is the lowest level of trademark protection. Notably, common law trademark rights are limited to the geographic area of use. At this point, you can start using the “TM ” superscript (for trademarks not federally registered; “SM” for service marks not federally registered) to put others on notice of your mark. The mark should be prominently displayed/used on the products themselves and/or the labels, tags, or packaging of the product.
To read my full article that was published in the Union Leader, please click here.
Intellectual Property Resource 