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Your MarkAssure® Executive Summary

Why am I receiving this email? 

This email is part of the MarkAssure® monitoring system.  Trademark monitoring is the process of trying to match a subscriber trademark (commonly called, a "brand") with trademark filings so that the subscriber can make determinations about infringement issues. This is also known in legal intellectual property parlance as "policing" the mark. The law generally requires that trademark owners police their brand to try to prevent infringements.  If marks are not policed, legal rights can be waived.  MarkAssure® is not a full historical trademark search, but a monitoring service; however, the first report tends to have some historical data that may be of added value to you.

If an owner of a brand does not police the mark for infringing uses, a would-be infringer can actually acquire its own rights in the brand, thereby preventing or hindering the original owner's rights.

However, many, if not most, businesses do not have the time or staff to systematically "police" their brands. But, utilizing the latest available technologies, MarkAssure has automated the part of the policing process.

Importantly, if you received this MarkAssure report as a complimentary subscription, please see the links below.  In short, if a law firm sent this MarkAssure Assurance Report to you, you are not a client of that firm unless you execute whatever separate written procedures of that firm create an attorney-client relationship.  Also, this Assurance Report is not a complete trademark record search: the Assurance Reports begin with recent filings and then continue incrementally with new filings from the last Assurance Report; therefore, there may be trademarks of which you need to be aware, particularly filed beyond the period for this Assurance Report's look-back scope, which is sometimes limited to a few months.  Full trademark searches are still required by your legal counsel, which is something separately managed from MarkAssure: MarkAssure does not render legal advice of any nature.  MarkAssure is only one weapon in policing and protecting a brand and cannot be used as the sole method of review, irrespective of its quality.  Additional details are below.

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How do I subscribe? 
How do I become an Assurance Branding Partner?

MarkAssure is offered primarily through Assurance Branding Partners.  The reason that this service is sold through Assurance Branding Partners is to ensure that you receive quality substantive advice and service regarding your brands; MarkAssure does not provide advice, only reporting.

Do you consult with commercial enterprises who are your clients or customers?  If so, you may qualify to become a reseller.  If you are a brand-holder, but you are not able to be qualified as a a Assurance Branding Partner, then please contact a pre-qualified MarkAssure Assurance Branding Partner.

If you received this email as a complimentary offer, what you do depends upon who you are.  If you are a service professional, such as a attorney, CPA, consultant, design firm or other professional in the business of serving commercial enterprises with brands, you may quality to be a Assurance Partner.  If you qualify, then, upon agreement to the terms of the reseller service agreement, you can begin to resell MarkAssure to your clients, so that they can protect and preserve their brands.

If you are the owner of a brand, or you do not prefer to be a Assurance Partner, you can obtain the service, but only through an Assurance Partner.  Please contact us at MarkAssure@MarkAssure.com and we can recommend an Assurance Partner.  To protect our Assurance Partner relationships, we do not sell direct. 

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Is MarkAssure a trademark search?

It depends upon how you limit the context of the question.  MarkAssure certainly searches the USPTO data based upon the search criteria; however, the field of data is limited to the MarkAssure data that is pulled from the USPTO.  MarkAssure is intended to find new filings at the USPTO beginning from the time that you subscribe.  Because MarkAssure natually has some data that precedes your subscription date, your first Assurance Report will have some historical data.  After your first Assurance Report, MarkAssure remembers what it sent to you, and, unless the search criteria is changed for your brand, MarkAssure will thereafter only send you information only on newly filed applications.  Therefore, you should consider MarkAssure to be providing new information that occurs only during your subscription term, with possibly some extra result data on your first report.  MarkAssure does not do a full search at the USPTO into all of its records in a manner similar to actually searching the USPTO data at the USPTO; that is a role generally reserved for your legal counsel.

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Who is my MarkAssure Assurance Partner?

See above, About Your MarkAssure Assurance Partner.  If you have an Assurance Partner, your Assurance Partner is responsible for all aspects of your MarkAssure service, including invoicing for services.  Please contact us if your Assurance Partner is selling higher than the suggested retail price for the MarkAssure subscription service per mark.

If a law firm sent this to you, whether or not as a complimentary subscription, you are NOT a client of that law firm or any other complimentary provider, unless you execute whatever engagement documents are separately required by that law firm. 

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Can I tailor which messages I receive? 

Yes, but some tailoring is not suggested. 

Suggested Tailoring:

You can easily tailor the frequency of reports, including staggering reports.  Some subscribers have many marks being monitored and prefer to have all reports synchronized, while others prefer them staggered.  The default cycle is usually about 45 days, which is suitable for most subscribers, but marks that have less frequency to severe alerts may prefer less frequency.  Because of government review timing, reports with cycle frequency exceeding 75 days may risk missing a problematic adverse filing.

Also, the email team list can be tailored, as well as sending this report to an email list at your internal mail server.  IMPORTANT: Each mark can have its own email team list, which allows you to tailor your brand monitoring to different divisions of your company.

Non-Suggested Tailoring:

Every mark is pre-selected for All Business Rules; No Business Rules; All Business Rules, Except (Opt-Out); No Business Rules, Except (Opt-In).  By default, whether you are a subscriber to a particular Business Rule will be determined by your Tier Service.  Platinum Tier defaults to All Business Rules.  You cannot include a mark into a Business Rule that is not part of your Tier of service.  Tailoring may have a consulting fee with your Assurance Partner, since it is an evaluative process based upon your own company branding needs.  See What is a Business Rule and Service Tier for more information.

Is the MarkAssure service guaranteed?

Unfortunately, because of the nature of trademark infringement, which is based upon, e.g., market confusion, mistake or untrue association, this service is not guaranteed to find all problems or possible infringements.  MarkAssure is also limited by scope of research in particular database, such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  The search technology does not search throughout the Internet, for example. 

Monitoring service is a prudent part of your protection arsenal, but not guaranteed. Please see Explain the different search types, below.

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What are the Alert Levels? 

Alert Levels are a visual representation of the severity Ranking.  Even if a Alert Level is Green, that does not mean to disregard the results.  Always review all results.  Red indicates that the results yielded a mark that is the same or close to your brand.  Green indicates less severity; however, sometimes a problem mark is found in the Green section, so please review it.

There is one possible exception to importance for a red indicator, which is when MarkAssure finds a mark that is the same or similar (creating a high and severe ranking) but it is a mark that you or your affiliate filed, there is presumably no problem notwithstanding that MarkAssure has ranked the filing as a Severe Alert.

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What are the Business Rules and Service Tiers, e.g., Platinum? 

Please contact your Assurance Partner regarding Service Tiers.  MarkAssure has infringement monitoring, but also has deadline tracking and and governmental record searching, such as USTPOLink™. 

  Automatic reports on potentially infringing
  trademark filings		   MarkAssure® Infringement Assurance
  Reporting
  Automatic notices for USPTO trademark
  file activity		   USPTOLink™
  Automatic deadline and application/
  registration progress notices

  (Pro+ is only offered to certain certified
  IP Professionals)		   MarkAssure® Pro and Pro+

USTPOLink™ is a proprietary MarkAssure service.  We are connected directly to USPTO data.  We take this data and make it automatically meaningful to you, including providing you with automatic notices when there is activity at the USPTO for a brand.  This is a separate service, so it may duplicate another service to some extent.  In other words, you may receive a notice from your Assurance Partner (such as a law firm) that they performed services on your account by filing a document.  Then, you automatically also receive a USTPOLink™ notice.  This is a good thing, because the automated notices can be fundamentally more reliable than human interactive notices.

Tiers are bundles of services.  Business Rules are separate queries into the data warehouse for results.  For example, a Business Rule could be to return information (and related MarkAssure notices) when your Assurance Partner (such as a law firm) updates records on your account.  Specific Business Rules are wrapped into Service Tiers, with Platinum Tier including all Business Rules.

Summary.  You generally opt in to Business Rules by subscribing to a Service Tier.  If a Business Rule is within your Service Tier, you can still opt any mark out of the rule by tailoring the Business Rules.  Therefore, there are Tiers, which are a pre-defined bundle of Business Rules, and Business Rules, which are specific categorical queries into the MarkAssure data warehouse.  MarkAssure is a very powerful system of brand monitoring and generally can be tailored to provide information that is meaningful to you.

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Is there a charge for the MarkAssure service?

All charges are based upon your agreement with your MarkAssure Assurance Partner.  Please contact us if your Assurance Partner is selling higher than the suggested retail price for the MarkAssure subscription service.

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What do I do now?

You may or may not need to respond to this report. 

First review the results.  Then, if you find any mark that concerns you, contact your Assurance Partner immediately.  If indicated in the email address above, your MarkAssure Assurance Partner may also have received a copy of this Assurance Report.  Please do not assume that your MarkAssure Assurance Partner has noticed a problematic mark.  You need to contact your Assurance Partner with concerns so that any matter is handled. 

If any information in this report concerns you, you should contact your MarkAssure Assurance Partner, not us.  If you do not have a MarkAssure Assurance Partner, you may contact MarkAssure at MarkAssure@MarkAssure.com.

Please do not contact MarkAssure, unless you are seeking to find a MarkAssure Assurance Partner.  We have attorneys and other branding professionals available to whom to refer. 

Please note that only attorneys may provide legal advice.  Therefore, if your Assurance Partner is not  a law firm, you may need to seek legal advice.  Sometimes, Assurance Reports can expose competitor activity without there being an infringement issue.  For these issues, you might coordinate with your Assurance Partner, who is a design firm; however, if your Assurance Partner is not a law firm, and you have discovered possible infringement: certainly contact your Assurance Partner, but also make sure you contact your attorney.  Unless the Assurance Partner is a law firm or attorney, do not rely upon any directives or advice; only attorneys may render legal advice!

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Do I still need to police my mark for infringement?

Yes.  These Assurance Reports yield important information to help you protect your trademark; however, you still need to take whatever action is necessary to protect your brand.  MarkAssure is an important, and very valuable tool, in your protection arsenal, but it is not the exclusive method by which you should police your brand.  Because the information contained in MarkAssure reports is automatically generated for your convenience, you should not rely on MarkAssure as the sole method by which you monitor your brands.  Also, you are responsible for maintaining accurate information, including your most current email address.  The system generates notices to email addresses only; if you do not maintain a current email address, you will not receive MarkAssure Assurance Reports.

If you stop receiving Assurance Reports during the subscription period, please contact your MarkAssure Assurance Partner Immediately.

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What are the different search types?

These results are without representations or warranties, express or implied, and without implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for any particular purpose.  Your entire remedy is for a return of the fee paid, if any, for the service for the period in which any claim arises.  See, Is the service guaranteed?

MarkAssure uses multiple search condition technologies that search for similar marks.  Remember, results are not guaranteed be exhaustive.  The MarkAssure service is a service of prudence, but not a service of perfection.  We encourage you to search www.USPTO.gov for similar marks.  Graphic marks, even if containing words, are excluded from the MarkAssure service and search results.

That said, your search results identify a search type, in the order of importance, using some very sophisticated search technologies:

If there is "Alt" after the search type, that means that there is alternate lettering used.

If "Cleaned" is indicated it means that some portion of the compared marks were altered in some regard, such as for invalid or unusual characters that might otherwise cause the technology to miss the result.

If there is "Ex" in the Search Type, that means that the MarkAssure search technology located the mark on an EXtended search variation, such as a direct change of the first letter from, for example, "PH" from "F"; this is different from sound-alike technology, since it is a letter-for-letter replacement technology on the introductory lettering.

If there is "Phrase" after the search type, that means the result has a higher priority based upon a special unaltered phrase added to the search criteria, often used for marks that contain numbers to ensure the number is not re-formed in some way by the search technologies.

If there is "Term" after the search type, that means that the search had a special descriptive word keyword found in the description of goods or services.  

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I have many marks, how do I prioritize? 

If you are going to have less than all of your brands watched (even though we recommend watching all marks) a priority formula may be Strategic_Importance x Probability_Of_Other_Users = Watch Priority. That is, a company name trademark is very important strategically, but may be so unique that it is not probable that other users would use it.  However, another mark might not be as valuable strategically, although very probable that others may use it. In the end, a mark that scores in the middle for both qualities may be important to watch.  There is no correct answer, however, because you are trying to protect against an unknown future risk.  Your MarkAssure Assurance Partner may assist you in thinking through the issue of priority, but cannot take responsibility for any service you choose not to implement; as a necessity, it is recommended to utilize all available options for all brands.

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How does it work? 

Here is what happens: 1) your MarkAssure Assurance Partner provides us with the details of the mark into our system; 2) your mark is entered into the system to watch filings (specifics depend upon your selected service level); 3) the MarkAssure system monitors the mark for similar filings; 4) if the MarkAssure technology discovers up something it believes is similar, then it packages the information into an email; 5) the MarkAssure computer system automatically distributes the email to your team of professionals provided by your MarkAssure Assurance Partner; 6) if anyone on the team has questions or concerns about the results, you communicate as appropriate.  This is a very streamlined process.

Here is an example: You have a mark being monitored called "We Represent the Entrepreneurial Spirit" (owned by our founder).  You and each of your MarkAssure Assurance Partner team members for your account receive an automated "MarkAssure" email with the details of a new filing by someone else for "The Entrepreneurial Spirit Award" (also owned by our founder).  There is no charge for this result: the MarkAssure service that found the other filing is paid in full.  The automated subscription service is paid in full, but, of course, your lawyer or team members may charge their own rates to manage the time necessary to respond to the potential issues arising from or related to the results. 

The MarkAssure Assurance Report is included in the annual MarkAssure subscription service fee, but assessing and dealing with the problem is not included in the annual subscription service fee; that fee, if any, is between you and your MarkAssure Assurance Partner.

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What level of service should I get? 

The determination to select a watch service is similar to selecting insurance, although, again, there is no guarantee of finding all potentially infringing marks.  However, like insurance, our firm cannot take responsibility for telling you not to get all the protection you can afford.  We have seen the very real benefits of this service.  That said, implementing a "new filings" watch is a very basic service that, in light of today's onslaught of trademark filings, is minimally important.  This service will not catch filings made prior to the date of implementation.  No service guarantees catching every similar mark or real-time results.  Only the classification of the registration is entered for searching, unless you request otherwise in writing.  The general rule is that the service looks for the same or similar marks within the class or classes watched, and the same mark in other classes.

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Will the service find all potentially infringing marks? 

Most probably not.  The reason is that there are too many "soft" ways for marks to be confusing in the marketplace.  The standard is likely to cause confusion or mistake, or untrue association or sponsorship in the marketplace.  This determination can be very complex.  In addition, there may be uses that are not filed or properly filed in a searched record.  That said, a monitoring service is a very valuable tool in your protection arsenal.  It is prudent, but not perfect.  Remember, only attorneys are licensed to practice law.

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How many hits will I receive? 

Approximately every 14-20 days, emails will automatically come to you.  The frequency of Assurance Reports can be adjusted by your MarkAssure Assurance Partner, but the default cycle is appropriate for most subscribers.  Approximately three-five percent of all hits are problematic and require professional service contact.  However, it is exactly that three-five percent that you cannot afford to miss.  On a per subscriber basis, most marks generate hits, but it is the unusual mark that has frequent hits.  Usually, subscribers receive hits of no concern (although they see that the service is working and often gain competitive information).  However, when a problematic hit occurs for a mark, the information is invaluable for protecting your intellectual property rights.

Also, the Assurance Report ranks the results, so that it better qualifies the results.  If you receive a lot of results in the 1-10 Ranking range, then you probably do have a very active brand, although this would be unusual.

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Why now?

Actually, MarkAssure has been operating for clients of the founding law firm for more than 5 years!  Generally speaking, the advent of the Internet has brought a huge volume of filings of trademarks.  Because of the volume, many marks are now being approved with fine distinctions that raise concerns about market confusion.  We have seen many marks provisionally cleared by the United States Patent and Trademark Office that are of serious concern to subscribers. 

Problematic marks need to be formally "opposed" before they are registered.  Once a mark is registered, the registrant has a significant advantage in litigation.  Because of the latest technologies, we can provide significant information rendered at very little cost.  Before now, the cost for a one-time human search often exceeded $500--one time!  Now, the cost is almost immaterial, and the searches are conducted frequently though an entire term of the subscription.

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Agreement and Disclaimers

YOU AGREE THAT IF YOU USE OR OTHERWISE RELY UPON OF ANY THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS EMAIL: THIS EMAIL IS NOT AND IS NOT INTENDED AS LEGAL ADVICE; MARKASSURE DOES NOT PROVIDE YOU WITH LEGAL ADVICE OR REPRESENTATION.  MARKASSURE IS NOT LICENSED TO RENDER LEGAL ADVICE.  IF MARKASSURE REFERS YOU TO AN ASSURANCE PARTNER, WHETHER OR NOT THAT ASSURANCE PARTNER IS AN ATTORNEY OR LAW FIRM, MARKASSURE DOES NOT ENDORSE THE SERVICES RENDERED THEREBY; YOU ARE ENTIRELY RESPONSIBLE TO INTERVIEW AND TO QUALIFY ANY REFERRAL AS QUALIFIED FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES AND NEEDS.

DO NOT RELY UPON THE INFORMATION IN THIS REPORT AS YOUR SOLE OR FINAL METHOD OF POLICING YOUR BRAND.  WITHOUT MARKASSURE IMPLYING OTHER AREAS OF COVERAGE, MARKASSURE DOES NOT INCLUDE DOMAIN NAME, STATE GOVERNMENTS OR INTERNET SEARCHING.  IN USING THIS INFORMATION, YOU AGREE TO ENGAGE THE SERVICES OF QUALIFIED LEGAL COUNSEL TO ADVISE YOU REGARDING PROTECTION OF YOUR BRANDS.  NO AGENT OF MARKASSURE OR ANY ASSURANCE PARTNER CAN MODIFY THIS DISCLAIMER.  THE INFORMATION IN THIS REPORT IS PROVIDED WITHOUT REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF FITNESS OR FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  MARKASSURE IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY OR OTHER DAMAGES OF ANY NATURE; YOUR SOLE REMEDY IS TO RETURN ANY PORTION OF THE FEE PAID FOR THIS REPORT, NOT TO EXCEED 30 DAYS.  ANY DISPUTE ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THIS REPORT SHALL BE RESOLVED EXCLUSIVELY BY ARBITRATION BEFORE THE AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION, USING ITS COMMERCIAL RULES; ANY AWARD MAY BE FILED IN ANY COURT HAVING JURISDICTION THEREOF.  MARKASSURE SEARCHING SERVICES ARE NOT THE EQUIVALENT OF A FULL TRADEMARK USAGE SEARCH THAT IS CONDUCTED AT THE USPTO OR OTHER GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY.  WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALLY FORGOING TEXT, MARKASSURE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ACTIVITY NOT INCLUDED IN OUR RECORDS, OR SERVICES PROVIDED BY THIRD PARTIES OF WHICH THE THIRD PARTY DOES NOT INFORM US, WHETHER OR NOT AN ASSURANCE PARTNER.  

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How and why was MarkAssure founded?

MarkAssure is a service that was developed over a period of more than 10 years, at great expense, by an intellectual property law firm in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Carnegie-Mellon/Oakland high-tech region.  Google itself has established a major facility in this area of Pittsburgh because of the fertile talent.  MarkAssure is not affiliated with those entities, but, for example, CMU creates a very prolific environment for innovation.  Over many years, the law firm developed MarkAssure to serve its own clientele for protecting their brands.

What happened was that MarkAssure become so successful that the law firm could not acquire law firm clients fast enough to match the power of the service.  Accordingly, the service was augmented and released for use by Assurance Partners, which includes other law firms, accounting firms, etc.  Now, MarkAssure is widely available to assist commercial enterprises, throughout the world, preserve their marks.

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