Alt Legal's §2(d) Trademark Watch is a new way to monitor all of the USPTO trademarks in your docket against potential infringement. While traditional monitoring services look to whether the same/similar mark has been applied-for, published, or registered, §2(d) Trademark Watch looks to whether marks on your docket are being cited as a basis for refusing applied-for marks due to §2(d) likelihood of confusion. The examining attorney has done the work for you to determine that there is potential confusion between your mark and the applied-for mark, and now you have the opportunity to take swift enforcement action. See how Adriano Pacifici has had success with §2(d) Trademark Watch.
Adriano Pacifici
IP Attorney | Intellectual Property Consulting, LLC
Adriano Pacifici has been relying on Alt Legal for his IP docketing since he first started practicing trademark law. So, naturally, when Alt Legal launched its §2(d) Trademark Watch, he was eager to jump in: “I was intrigued to try §2(d) Trademark Watch because it seemed like a great tool to find infringement. As soon as it was offered, we began receiving the emails and began incorporating it into our watching program for clients.”
Alt Legal’s §2(d) Trademark Watch monitors all of the marks in your docket and notifies you whenever your marks are cited in an office action that refuses the applied-for mark based on §2(d) likelihood of confusion with your client’s mark. Because we notify you as soon as the office action is issued, you have plenty of time to prepare an opposition strategy. Learn more about how Alt Legal’s §2(d) Trademark Watch works.
Adriano immediately understood the value of tracking the notices he was receiving from Alt Legal’s §2(d) Trademark Watch. He remarked, “Unless a client has actively decided to conduct their own watches, engage a third-party watch service, or have us conduct watches for them, there is really no automatic method for a client to monitor their marks.” Many clients elect not to monitor their trademarks simply due to cost, but Alt Legal’s §2(d) Trademark Watch can be an effective and low or no cost way to offer a monitoring service to a client. As Adriano explained, “The cost of monitoring services even 5 years ago was astronomical. But a §2(d) refusal will identify possible infringement, and I think Alt Legal’s §2(d) Trademark Watch is a great tool to help enforce trademark owners’ rights.”
Adriano’s initial belief in the potential value of Alt Legal’s §2(d) Trademark Watch has been reaffirmed by the additional revenue he has generated for his firm. Recently, Alt Legal’s §2(d) Trademark Watch identified a potentially infringing mark for one of Adriano’s larger clients. Despite the size of their portfolio, the client had never established a formal watch/monitoring program for the portfolio. Because all of the marks in Adriano’s portfolio are automatically monitored for §2(d) citations, Alt Legal’s §2(d) Trademark Watch identified a §2(d) Office Action citing a mark that was nearly identical to this particular client’s mark. Adriano remarked, “This mark would have been registered had we not caught it in §2(d) Trademark Watch. We would have never known!” Because he was alerted to the citation, though, Adriano was able to discuss an enforcement strategy with the client, and the client opted to file an opposition proceeding.
“This opposition proceeding has generated a good amount of work for me and my firm. This was all because of the service that Alt Legal provided with §2(d) Trademark Watch.”
Adriano has continued to see the benefits of §2(d) Trademark Watch. “We just had another client who does not have any watching services in place decide to send a demand letter after we received another notice from §2(d) Trademark Watch. Again, this is more work generated for our firm!”
As trademark filings continue to surge in the USPTO and globally, brand owners must ensure that they are monitoring their valuable trademarks. You can introduce your clients to the importance of monitoring by discussing the notices you receive from Alt Legal’s §2(d) Trademark Watch. Adriano noted, “§2(d) Trademark Watch is a great service and a great way to provide a low-cost monitoring service as a complementary service to Alt Legal IP docketing. When it does catch something, clients become more informed about the benefits of more comprehensive watching services. It can be a great stepping stone.” When clients become aware of potential infringement, this opens up an excellent opportunity for you to offer a variety of enforcement proceedings, including filing a Letter of Protest, sending a cease and desist letter, filing an opposition proceeding, and more. Each of these options will not only help enforce your client’s trademark rights, but they will also bring more business to your firm and help strengthen your relationships with your clients.
“§2(d) Trademark Watch is a great service and a great way to provide a low-cost monitoring service as a complementary service to Alt Legal IP docketing.”
Over 800 organizations already use Alt Legal’s §2(d) Trademark Watch as an alternative or supplemental approach to trademark monitoring. We’re also proud to share that since our acquisition of Towergate Informatics’ §2(d) Citation Watch business in February 2022, Alt Legal has become the leading provider of §2(d) trademark monitoring.
See how incorporating Alt Legal’s §2(d) Trademark Watch into your practice can benefit you and your clients. Check out these related resources about Alt Legal’s §2(d) Trademark Watch:
Alt Legal Webinar: 2(D)iscover Potential Infringement: Using Alt Legal’s §2(d) Watch Effectively
Monetizing Alt Legal’s §2(d) Trademark Watch+ Tips to Help you Build More Business
Policing your clients’ marks with a §2(d) Watch Service and More
