San Diego Trademark Lawyers

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols and designs which identify and distinguish one source of goods or services from those of another. A service mark (or servicemark) identifies the source of services as opposed to a trademark which identifies the source of a product.

Trademark rights are obtained from actual use of a mark or from the filing of an application by a San Diego Trademark lawyer such as Sebastian Gibson, at the USPTO (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office). An application may be either an intent-to-use application or a use in commerce application (for trademarks and service marks already in use).

San Diego Trademark Attorney Sebastian Gibson has the trademark and intellectual property experience to be your San Diego Trademark Lawyer. Sebastian Gibson has decades of experience in trademark law and copyright law representing clients internationally and throughout Southern California.

In the area of trademark law, our attorneys and our San Diego trademark lawyer of counsel to our firm represent clients throughout Southern California, and take the following steps to protect a client's intellectual property:

San Diego trademark attorney Sebastian Gibson prepares and file applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for all kinds of intellectual property protection including trademarks and service marks (or servicemarks) to meet your needs and can advise you in a wide range of matters including protection of your trademark, renewal of your trademark and protection against trademark infringement.

Once a trademark application has been filed it is first reviewed by staff attorneys and then by an examiner on behalf of the USPTO in order to determine if the mark must be refused or objected to for being similar to another mark, or for being likely to deceive or mislead the public, or for other reasons.

If the trademark is determined to have objections or issues that need clarification, the examiner will send a letter listing those corrections necessary for the application to be approved. The San Diego trademark applicant then has six months to respond. If the response is insufficient to resolve those issues, the application will be denied but the trademark applicant may appeal the matter to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, optimally with the help of our law firm's San Diego trademark attorneys and lawyers.

If the mark is determined to be acceptable, it is published in the Official Gazette. As long as no opposition is filed against the trademark application and no opposition proceeding is commenced, the trademark will be registered and a certificate of registration will be issued approximately twelve weeks after the mark was initially published. This description of the trademark registration process has been somewhat simplified by our firm's trademark attorneys in order to convey only a general understanding of the process in a limited amount of space on this website.

Sebastian Gibson and our of counsel trademark attorney associated with San Diego Trademark lawyer Sebastian Gibson can file and prosecute both use-based and intent-to-use trademark and service mark applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and under the new provisions of the Madrid Protocol. San Diego trademark attorney Sebastian Gibson will perform trademark searches and in more complex matters we recommend a more comprehensive search to search for similar trademarks and the use of those trademarks in places, including on the world wide web.

The San Diego trademark Law Firm of Sebastian Gibson which represents clients in San Diego and elsewhere in Southern California routinely advises trademark clients with respect to such issues as trademark dilution, trade designs, Lanham Act litigation, trademark infringement litigation, cease and desist letters, and assist with intellectual property protection of related copyrights and patents.

Trademark assistance by Sebastian Gibson is provided in creating advertising programs and utilizing brand names that will afford the greatest trademark protection worldwide and, at the same time, lend themselves to creative marketing. Where applicable, coordination is made with patent lawyers and designers of goods and trademark designs.

Finally, trademark litigation in California state and federal courts by Sebastian Gibson and the Southern California is aggressively pursued to protect a client's trademark rights and property and obtain damages or royalties from trademark infringers.

Even before any application is filed with the USPTO, any person who claims rights in a trademark may use the symbol TM (for trademarks) and SM (for service marks) with the words, phrases, symbols or designs constituting the mark. The registration symbol ®, an R with a circle around it, may only be used once the mark has been registered (not just applied for) with the USPTO.

Once a trademark is granted, the trademark must periodically be renewed and monitored, optimally by our San Diego trademark lawyers. Although the term of a trademark is ten years, it must be renewed within six months prior to the expiration in order to retain the trademark. In addition, a trademark registrant must file an affidavit of continual use after the fifth year and before the sixth year of the date of initial registration.

In the event another party infringes upon the use of your trademark, steps should be taken immediately by calling our San Diego trademark lawyers for a trademark attorney to assist you in San Diego to protect your rights.

San Diego Trademark Attorney, Sebastian Gibson

One of the best trademark attorneys for people in San Diego to follow for his humor and wit, one of the funniest San Diego trademark lawyers and one of the top humorous San Diego trademark attorneys people follow on Twitter, San Diego trademark attorney Sebastian Gibson has been called "brilliant," "hilariously funny" and a "legend."

It matters more than you think who you call for your trademark and other legal matter. When it matters most, call San Diego trademark lawyer Sebastian Gibson. When it’s time to hire a San Diego trademark attorney, hire a legend.