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The primary requirement for legal protection of a trademark in the United States is use in commerce.

Trademark Act §1051 Registration and Application for Registration

• §1051(a) Provides for the filing of an application for the registration of a mark already used in commerce, along with a statement verifying such use and addressing concurrent use by others.
  • The application must specify the goods and/or services in relation to which the mark is used.
• §1051(b) Allows for the filing of an application for the "pre-registration" of a mark based on the intent to use it in commerce in the future.
  
  • Intent to Use Application Procedure:
    1. Filing of intent to use application and verified statement (as in §1051[a])
    2. Receipt of Notice of Allowance from Patent & Trademark Office
    3. Passage of maximum six month period in which use is to begin and corresponding subsequent filing of statement verifying use
    4. Six month extension period allowed upon filing of request [§1051(d)(2)]
    5. Up to twenty-four months of extensions will be granted (totalling 36 months from issuance of Notice of Allowance) upon showing good cause [§1051(d)(2)]
    • A verified statement of the filing party's bona fide intention to use the mark must be filed for any of the above extensions to be granted.
      • The policy is not to allow the warehousing of trademarks.
      • A question in this regard arises when a company attempts to pre-register multiple trademarks.
        

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