Trademarks are a company’s way of protecting symbols, words and phrases that consumers associate with a certain brand or company. A stack of laws dictates what a company has to do in order to achieve a trademark on specific images, phrases and/or words.

As with any law in the United States’ legal system, these laws can change at the drop of a hat. It is important that you keep up with the latest law changes regarding trademarks. Here’s a look at just some of the latest law changes that affect the trademark process.

No Extension Requests

Under the new trademark laws, a person or company requesting an opposition against a newly registered trademark will only have 180 days to file the opposition. In the past, parties could extend the process by filing for an extension.

Color Protection

Should a company or person wish to trademark an image that contains color, they will be required to file the trademark application with a colored image and request that the colors be trademarked. In the past companies and people requesting trademarks could submit a black and white image and fill in the colors at a later date.

Electronic Filing Size Requirements

The United States Patent and Trade Office now requires any company or person filing for a trademark to make sure that the image’s length and width are between 250 and 944 pixels. Any image not meeting this requirement could face automatic rejection.

Trademark laws, like all types of laws, are ever changing. If you are planning on filing for a trademark or a patent, it is important that you contact an attorney like a California trademark dispute resolution attorney to help you through the trademark process.