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**Case Study | Trademark Suspension (Sec 1B)**

You might don’t know your TM is already being suspended so don’t miss this case study.

Before reading this post please check the status of your Trademark whether it’s filed in Sec 1A or Sec 1B.

This post might be very technical to understand so try to read this several times for better understanding

We know TM is the basic pillar of PL business, if your TM suspends you can lose your whole business. There are several types of TM suspension but today I am going to discuss what is Sec 1B suspensions and how to avoid.

There are two main sections of trademark filing on USPTO, Section 1A and Section 1B:
Section 1A: If we are already using our brand name/logo in commerce then we choose this option (We should provide specimen)
Section 1B: If we are intended to use our brand name/logo in near future then we choose this option (No need to provide specimen yet)

Most of the time we file our trademark before our inventory goes live, which means we don’t have any proof of specimen to show that we are already using our brand name in ecommerce so the attorney or trademark consultant choose Section 1B for us during filing our TM, now we are bound to submit the specimen to USPTO after getting office action request to submit SOU (Statement of Use) within specific time period, if we failed or missed the deadline to submit the proof of selling then our Trademark get suspended.

How to avoid Sec 1B Suspension?
It’s very easy to avoid this type of suspension, I always recommend to create a one page simple website and put your listing on it to show USPTO that we are already using our brand name in ecommerce.
But if you have already selected Sec 1B filing, then as soon as you get office action request to submit the proof of using your mark in commerce then submit the specimen within the specific deadline to avoid TM suspension.

Remember: Sec 1B filing also cost you $100 extra govt fee and attorney fee is separate, so always try to go with Sec 1A to save some $$ and avoid risk of TM suspension.

Sec 1B TM suspension case is attached below

Let me know in comments if this case study helped you so I can continue sharing such posts to educate you

BR,
Sami Ur Rehman
Legal Patron