The story of USPTO trademark data

This chapter explains the dual state and federal trademark protection schemes in the United States, outlines the benefits of federal trademark registration and reviews prior empirical research. Next, using forty years of United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) trademark application data, we identified important variables that correlate with success in federal trademark prosecution. The annual number of trademark applications filed with the USPTO has increased dramatically. Despite USPTO efforts to make the process user friendly, the registration process poses insurmountable challenges to many applicants. Textual marks are the most popular category but not the most successful. Marks claiming only design elements had the highest success rates. Nontraditional trademarks are the rarest category and had the lowest success rate. Although many pro se applicants continue to file trademark applications, applicants with experienced legal counsel were more likely to succeed in obtaining federal registration.