Back to Specifics of US trademarks

Is trademark registration needed to sell products in the USA?

Founder & Trademark Attorney

No. A trademark is not a trading license; you can sell products in the US without one. What you cannot do without a registration is enforce exclusive rights to your brand name or logo against infringers in the US market.

In other words, a competitor can copy your brand, and you’ll have very limited legal grounds to act against their infringement without a registration. With a registered trademark, you can send cease and desist letters, report infringement on platforms such as Amazon, and pursue legal action, including damages. In the US, where common law rights exist based on use, unregistered marks do carry some rights, but these are geographically limited to the area where the mark is actively used and are harder to enforce than registered rights.

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