Q: Revive or refile?
I would like to revive a trademark that I abandoned, but I would like to change the ownership as well as my partner is no longer with the business. And it was a messy breakup, so I would like to avoid involving them if I can. Would it be better for me to re-apply for this trademark under different ownership or to try to revive the abandoned application and change the ownership?
A:
The timeline for reviving an abandoned trademark is really quite short (generally only 2 months if you received the notice and a max of 6 months if you didn't, unless you can show that the abandonment was due to a PTO error). How long ago was the prior mark deemed abandoned? If it is still within the time frame, then reviving would be faster, cheaper and easier. However, depending upon how the mark was owned before, revival could then lead you to possible problems with your former partner. If the mark was held by a business entity (like a corporation or an LLC), then the departure of your former partner should be handled on the business end, with the continuing company still holding the trademark. Otherwise, you can always do an assignment of the mark from the prior owner to the new own, however you have that structured. If you do an assignment, you need to watch out for the associated requirements so that you don't end up doing an invalid "assignment in gross."
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