Hello everyone, I am considering applying for a Federal trademark on a unique word which also is the name of my product. When submitting the trademark application, is it a good idea to include variations in capitalization and spacing - or is the word or phrase itself the only thing important to the US Trademark Office? For example: Let’s say that I wanted to trademark the word “buzzkillâ€. Would “buzzkill†be sufficient, or do I also have to indicate variations on the application like: “Buzzkillâ€, “Buzz killâ€, “BUZZKILLâ€,â€BuzzKillâ€, "BuzzKILL", etc.? Thank you.
There are two types of drawings used when registering a mark: “standard character†and “special form.†A standard character drawing is commonly submitted when the mark you wish to register consists solely of words, letters, or numbers. A standard character mark protects the wording itself, without limiting the mark to a specific font, style, size, or color and therefore gives you broader protection than a special form drawing. A standard character drawing must have the following characteristics: • No design element; • No stylization of lettering and/or numbers; • Any letters and words in Latin characters; • Any numbers in Roman or Arabic numerals; • Only common punctuation or diacritical marks. If your mark includes a design or logo, alone or with wording, or if the particular style of lettering or particular color(s) is important, you must select the “special form†drawing format. This USPTO link/pdf file has more info: http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/BasicFacts_with_correct_links.pdf Or just go to USTPO.gov and read around the basics.
I would suggest talking to a lawyer when drafting it up because there is so many loop holes, If your serious about it, it's the only way to protect your trademarks.
Thank you all for your responses. They were extremely helpful and I will speak with a lawyer before proceeding.