February 25, 2009

Financial Trademarks 1976-2008

In 1996 there were just 67,000 Class 36 trademarks on file with the USPTO. But in the last decade, that number has more than tripled. Today, there are around 250,000 registered financial trademarks. In 2008, the financial industry saw the largest increase in financial trademarks in the last decade, adding 13,864 new trademarks (see Table 2 below).

Key Takeaway: Securing a trademark in the financial industry is getting harder every day. Register your financial institution’s trademarks before someone beats you to it. And be careful coming up with new names, even for things like products and services. Make sure any new brand names you want to use aren’t already being used by someone else.

Reality Check: Any financial institution savvy enough to register its trademarks might be inclined to do whatever it takes to protect their brand assets (translation: “lawsuits”) even if you are thousands of miles away.

Bottom Line: It only takes a couple minutes to look up a financial trademark at the USPTO — time well spent if you save yourself a mountain of headaches down the road. Relative to the potential consequences if you don’t register your trademarks, the cost is basically nothing.

Tip: While you can register your own trademarks directly with the USPTO, you should retain the services of a lawyer.

Table 1. Financial Trademarks 1998-2008

Year	Trademarks	%
1998	159,913	3.02%
1999	164,571	2.91%
2000	171,334	4.11%
2001	178,392	4.12%
2002	188,259	5.53%
2003	196,926	4.60%
2004	204,490	3.84%
2005	212,259	3.80%
2006	222,685	4.91%
2007	234,245	5.19%
2008	248,109	5.92%

Table 2. Financial Trademark Applications vs. Registrations

Year	Applications	Approvals	% Approved
1998	10,690	4,686	43.8%
1999	17,347	4,658	26.9%
2000	20,564	6,763	32.9%
2001	13,024	7,058	54.2%
2002	12,123	9,867	81.4%
2003	12,819	8,667	67.6%
2004	14,318	7,564	52.8%
2005	16,148	7,769	48.1%
2006	17,659	10,426	59.0%
2007	19,171	11,560	60.3%
2008	16,387	13,134	80.1%

In 1999, the USPTO only approved 1-in-4 financial trademark applications, or around 25%. In 2008, the USPTO approved 4-out-of-5 financial trademark applications, or about 80% (see Table 2 above).

There were 2,784 fewer applications for financial trademarks in 2008 vs. 2007, off 15% in 2008. But the USPTO approved 1,574 more applications in 2008 (Table 2).

Table 3. Monthly Trademark Applications in Class 36

Month	2007	2008
January	1,605	1,385
February	1,525	1,448
March	1,776	1,449
April	1,667	1,606
May	1,796	1,458
June	1,707	1,396
July	1,496	1,300
August	1,700	1,305
September	1,390	1,349
October	1,631	1,637
November	1,565	1,570
December	1,313	1,340

There were 2,784 fewer applications for financial trademarks in 2008 vs. 2007, off 15% in 2008. But the USPTO approved 1,574 more applications in 2008.

Table 4. Monthly Approved Trademarks Applications in Class 36

Month	2007	2008
January	1,025	1,087
February	676	946
March	641	938
April	746	1,101
May	909	1,189
June	564	1,219
July	1,057	1,431
August	969	1,083
September	925	1,101
October	1,907	1,102
November	1,166	828
December	975	1,113

Previous related stories from The Financial Brand:

• Ohio bank learns hard lesson about trademark law
• How to look up a financial trademark in 10 easy steps
• Credit union sues bank over trademarked scarlet letter
• Pittsburgh Teachers becomes ‘Riverset’

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Tags: 2007, 2008, trademarks, USPTO

Filed under: Facts & Data, Trademark Law