Hey all! I filed for a trademark earlier this year and just received an email from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that they need me to clarify my entity. They said that the name of an individual person appears in the section of the application intended for the trademark owner’s name (which isn’t that me?); however, the legal entity is set forth as a limited liability company and that I need to clarify this inconsistency.

Has anyone gone through this trademark process? Do I file the legal entity as an individual (which I’m assuming is just my personal name) or as my LLC?

In the email I received it said if an applicant is an individual, applicant should request that the legal entity be amended to “individual” and must indicate his/her country of citizenship for the record. Alternatively, if applicant is a limited liability company, applicant must provide the correct name of the limited liability company and the U.S. state or foreign country of incorporation or organization.

I’m confused. 🫤

Thanks for helping me with this!

HI Shannon!  I’m guessing you set up an llc for your business? For example “Shannon’s Awesome Business, LLC.” and then filed for that business (which is the entity) to have a trademark? If so the trademark owner could be your business. Registering a trademark ensures the business has exclusivity over its name. You as an individual are not being trademarked. Examples of individuals that have trademarks are Donald Trump, Taylor Swift, and Beyonce’. The trademark application would generally be filed in the name of the business – not the owner or corporate officer.  Noting though, that I am not an attorney and it’s always best to seek the advice of a trusted professional. In this case a consultation with a trademark attorney might be beneficial.

A quick google search returned this:

While a business can use its own name as a trademark, the “trademark owner” refers specifically to the legal entity that owns the trademark rights, which could be a company, individual, or even a different business name associated with the product or service being trademarked, not necessarily the overall business name itself. 

Key points to remember:

• Business name: The name under which a company operates, registered with the state. 
• Trademark: A word, phrase, symbol, or design that identifies the source of a product or service and is protected by legal registration. 

  Example: If a company called “Acme Inc.” wants to trademark the name “SuperWidget” for their new product, the “trademark owner” would be listed as “Acme Inc.” even though the business name is also “Acme Inc.”.

I hope this was helpful Shannon. If I were looking into this for myself I’d still reach out to a trademark attorney just to make sure I’m doing things correctly, especially when dealing with the state. It can be a bear trying to get someone from the state department to help you if you find need to correct something later.

Hi Shannon, if you received an office action, there is typically an issue with the information entered in the application. For example, if you listed an individual’s name, but checked “limited liability company” for the entity type. Or you entered an LLC name and then checked off “individual” in the entity type. This all has to match.

If you have questions, the examining attorney should also list their information on the office action, so you can call for clarification.

Thank you Rhonda for that helpful explanation! I appreciate you taking the time to explain!

Thank you, Danielle! I did make a call to the examining attorney a couple of days ago and have yet to hear back, but hopefully I will soon.