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APPENDIX TRADEMARK , 1 , <br /> Appendix B: Trademark Information <br /> Trademark Protection <br /> Trademarks can be registered on both the federal and state level. While a trademark can <br /> be reserved prior to actual use, the trademark is not protected until it is put to commercial use <br /> (Minnesota, Merchant and Gould, 2015). The Minnesota Department of Employment and <br /> Economic Development cautions that while protection of the trademark should not be ignored, <br /> federal trademark protection offers the most practical and comprehensive protection (Minnesota <br /> Development, 2017). Therefore,this section will focus on federal trademark protection. <br /> Trademark Duration <br /> Federal trademark protection stems from the Lanham Act which Congress enacted using <br /> its powers under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution (US Patent and <br /> Trademark Office, 2013). While patents and copyrights expire after a set duration of time, <br /> trademarks can endure indefinitely, if the proper paperwork is submitted to the US Patent and <br /> Trademark Office and the trademark is used in interstate commerce (Minnesota, Merchant and <br /> Gould, 2015; US Patent and Trademark Office, 2013). Registered marks are identified with the <br /> symbol®,while unregistered marks are identified with the letters TM. <br /> Trademark Abandonment <br /> While there are many nuances to federal trademark law,most important in this case is the <br /> issue of abandoning a trademark. If an owner of a federally protected trademark fails to use it in <br /> interstate commerce for three years and shows no intent to resume use of the trademark, the <br /> trademark is considered abandoned (NJP Legal, 2017). Abandoned trademarks enter the public <br /> 0 <br /> Page 50 ,�UNIVERSITYof ST.THOMAS <br /> EN-RGYCITY <br /> ��_V A..a a.�.. ' Opus College of Business <br />