Intellectual Property Law

Chapter 5 Putting It Into Words Solution

Write a letter to a client, Candace Ellis, indicating that her trademark WHITE LION was
registered with the USPTO on September 15, 2016, and identifying the dates of
maintenance for this mark.

Re: Registration of WHITE LION

Dear Ms. Ellis:

We are pleased to inform you that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
issued a trademark registration for WHITE LION on September 15, 2016. A copy
of the registration certificate is enclosed.

Although the mark is now registered, U.S. law imposes various requirements on
registrants in order to maintain their trademark registrations. Those requirements
are as follows:

• Between the fifth and sixth years after the registration date,
you must file an affidavit showing use of the mark. This
affidavit is thus due between September 15, 2021, and
September 15, 2022 (or within a six-month grace period
thereafter).
• You must file an affidavit showing use of the mark and a
renewal of the mark between the ninth and tenth years after
registration (and every ten years thereafter). These two
documents may be combined. They must be filed between
September 15, 2026, and September 15, 2027 (or within a sixmonth
grace period thereafter), to maintain your trademark
registration.
• In addition, once the mark is in use for five continuous years,
you may file an Affidavit of Incontestability. This document is
not required to maintain rights in your mark, but it will reduce
the ability of others to challenge your mark, and we thus advise
that you file this document as well.

Fees are required for all documents.

We would be pleased to assist you in preparing these documents and will provide
you with reminders of their due dates six months before they may be filed.

Please let us know if you have any questions or comments with regard to your
trademark registration or the requirements to maintain it in force.

Sincerely,

Attorney/Law Firm