The USPTO Trademark Case Files Dataset: Descriptions, Lessons, and Insights

Abstract

This article describes the "USPTO Trademark Case Files Dataset" of trademark applications

Editorial: why and when do firms trademark? Bridging perspectives from industrial organisation, innovation and entrepreneurship

“…Some mature firms cash in on trademark assets through licencing, so that participation in 'markets for brands' is emerging as an additional motive to file and maintain trademarks (Graham et al 2013;Frey et al 2015). Ferrucci et al (2019) in this issue offer a first in-depth overview of the trademark licencing agreements officially registered at the USPTO (building on data from Graham, Marco, and Myers 2018).…”

An Anatomy of U.S. Firms Seeking Trademark Registration

“…Data coverage in the TCFD varies over time. Graham, Hancock, Marco, and Myers (2016) indicate that there is little coverage of classification, prosecution events, and owner records for trademark registrations issued before 1962. 17 Therefore, the primary focus of the empirical analysis will be on firms that were born in or after 1977.…”

“…Registrants must pay separate maintenance and renewal fees for each class in the registration. For most of the time period for which the matched data cover, the fee for (paper or electronic) filing an affidavit or declaration of use is $100 per class and the fee for (paper or electronic) filing a renewal application ranged from $300 to $400 per class 17. SeeTable 1in Graham, Hancock, Marco, and Myers (2016).…”

Product and Marketing Actions in a Competitive Scenario

“…While the majority of trademarks are assigned only one IC class, a mark's US classes are usually manifold. According to a recently published study on US trademarks (Graham et al, 2013), single IC class registrations and applications represent the 86.5% of the overall trademarks serial numbers. Conversely, when looking at trademarks US classes attribution, it is possible to observe a high variance.…”

“…This requirement serves the objective of informing third parties regarding the scope of an applicant's rights. Goods and services description can be very specific or more general (Graham et al, 2013), and it is used to assign a proper classification to marks based on their goods and services categories. There are two types of classifications.…”