Obtaining trademark protection is only the first step in protecting your intellectual property as subsequent registrations by competitors may infringe on your trademark. Fortunately the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has procedures in place that provide you with recourse to protect your rights. Before a trademark is approved for registration it must be published for opposition by the holder of a prior mark who believes its trademark may be damaged by the proposed mark.
In order to avoid dilution of your trademark by the application of a strikingly similar mark, it is critical to file a notice of opposition with the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. If the application has already passed through the time period allowed for opposition and has been registered, you can then move to have the mark cancelled.
