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Definition / Meaning of

Principal Register

Categories: Patent, Legal, ,

primary trademark register of the USPTO. When a mark has been registered on the Principal Register, the mark is entitled to all the rights provided by the trademark act. The advantages of owning a registration on the Principal Register include the following: constructive notice to the public of the registrant’s claim of ownership of the mark (15 U.S.C. Section 1072); A legal presumption of the registrant’s ownership of the mark and the registrant’s exclusive right to use the mark nationwide on or in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the registration (15 U.S.C. Sections 1057(b) and 1115(a); A date of constructive use of the mark as of the filing date of the application (15 U.S.C. Section 1057(c); TMEP Section 201.02); The ability to bring an action concerning the mark in federal court (15 U.S.C. Section 1121); The ability to file the U.S. registration with the U.S. Customs Service to prevent importation of infringing foreign goods (15 U.S.C. Section 1124); The registrant’s exclusive right to use a mark in commerce on or in connection with the goods or services covered by the registration can become “incontestable,” subject to certain statutory defenses (15 U.S.C. Sections 1065 and 1115(b)); and The use of the U.S. registration as a basis to obtain registration in foreign countries.