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LSDefine

Simple English definitions for legal terms

trademark registration

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A quick definition of trademark registration:

Trademark registration is when you officially claim ownership of a symbol, word, or phrase that represents your business. This gives you stronger legal rights and protections than if you didn't register your trademark. Benefits of registration include letting people know that you own the trademark, having the exclusive right to use it, being able to take legal action if someone else uses it without your permission, and being able to use your registration to get protection in other countries. To register a trademark, it must be unique and not just a common word or phrase. In the past, offensive or insulting trademarks couldn't be registered, but a recent court case changed that rule.

A more thorough explanation:

Trademark registration is the process of establishing legal rights to a particular mark that is used in commerce. This process is not required, but it provides stronger and broader protections than an unregistered trademark. Registering a trademark with the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) offers several advantages, including:

  • Notice to the public of the owner's claim of ownership of the mark
  • A legal presumption of ownership nationwide
  • The exclusive right to use the mark on or in connection with the goods or services listed in the registration
  • The ability to bring an action concerning the mark in federal court
  • The use of the U.S. registration as a basis to obtain registration in foreign countries
  • The ability to file the U.S. registration with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to prevent importation of infringing foreign goods

In order to register a trademark, the mark must meet three requirements:

  1. First use in a particular trade or geographic market
  2. Non-functionality
  3. Distinctiveness

For example, the Nike "swoosh" logo is a registered trademark because it is distinctive and not functional. However, the word "shoe" cannot be registered as a trademark because it is too generic.

Traditionally, derogatory references and immoral names could not be trademarked. However, in the case of Matal v. Tam, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the disparagement clause of the Lanham Act, which prohibited federal trademark registration for disparaging marks, was invalid under the First Amendment. This means that even potentially offensive or controversial marks can now be registered as trademarks.

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starfishies
12:52
unless you participated in a million clubs or had legit internships idk how kjds do so well honestly
starfishies
12:53
nothing against kjds just heard a ton of advice that you should work before applying
@EvolBunny: I said the vast majority dumbass. There's only 4k people with a 170+ and 6k people in the T20. The lowest LSAT median in the T20 is 169, so yes the vast majority of people (as in 70ish percent) with a 170+ are going to the T14.
babycat
12:53
I think some of that comes from a feeling that law school is a major commitment and you should be sure about it moreso than the value of the work experience
babycat
12:54
@BulbasaurNoLikeCardio: right? would love to see some analysis on this
babycat
12:55
I feel like as you get more WE you have diminishing returns. Not sure someone with 20 years of work is valued more than 5 or 10 unless it's been ground-breaking stuff
babycat
12:57
realizing now the correct spelling of groundbreaking is unhyphenated. I knew it looked wrong
BulbasaurNoLikeCardio
12:57
I think it has to be proffesional or law related kind of work experience to mean anything significant. Entry level assistant jobs people get fresh from college has to be like ehhhh.
JumpySubsequentDolphin
12:58
@babycat: I think Dean z did a podcast on this
babycat
12:58
I don't really trust what she says 100% of the time. I think there's an impulse to say things because they sound nice and fair even if they're not true
12:59
texas law, you are clearly a humanities idiot who never dealt with stats and i will no longer be engaging your dumbass on this topic
JumpySubsequentDolphin
12:59
oh yeah for sure
@EvolBunny: that's rich coming from the person with a 163 LSAT score
but, hey, if you can't understand medians, your loss
JumpySubsequentDolphin
13:00
don’t engage Texas not worth jt
13:00
I think work experience helps in two different ways. One is showing maturity, and the other is doing something difficult/challenging.
BulbasaurNoLikeCardio
13:00
Dean Z can only speak to her school and when she is in charge. Does not apply to other schools fully. Talked to a few deans of admissions and they say ignore all the social media deans because they can't speak for how other schools operate
damn getting heated and yeah no worth engaging
babycat
13:00
Lmao I ignore all the social media deans already
13:01
So you get points for any professional work experience just for maturity reasons, and more consideration if that work is difficult
13:01
and maybe another consideration for if the work aligns with what you intend to do in law
babycat
13:01
I hate when St. John's emails me with a subject line that's like a TikTok trend or something. pissing me off
I don't know Dean Z does have some helpful tidbits. I think in the KJD episode, she mentioned that she looked more for a why law for KJD's.
BulbasaurNoLikeCardio
13:02
@BruceSutter: I think the maturity factor is the biggest one playing against KJDs. WE shows you have more life experience and maybe more maturity to help. The level of work matters.
BulbasaurNoLikeCardio
13:03
@babycat: was that the one with the dean having a bratt girls summer? I thought it was troll/spam and I lost respect for the school.
JumpySubsequentDolphin
13:03
they sent me an email that says “come yap with us”
JumpySubsequentDolphin
13:03
I almost switched to med
dolphy you always make me laugh
JumpySubsequentDolphin
13:04
thank you waspy <3
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