In United States trademark law, the '''Principal Register''' is the primary register of trademarks maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. It is governed by Subchapter I of the Lanham Act.
Having a mark registered under the Principal Register confers certain benefits on the holder of the mark. Among them are:
* Nationwide constructive use and constructive notice, which cuts off rights of other users for similar marks * The possibility of achieving incontestable status after five years (which cuts off certain defenses of potential infringement defendants) * The right to bring a federal cause of action for infringement without regard to diversity or amount in controversy * The right to request U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials to bar importation of goods bearing infringing trademarks * Provisions for treble damages, attorney fees, and various other remedies.
Trademarks must be inherently distinctive, or have acquired sufficient secondary meaning, to be registered on the Principal Register.
==See also== *Supplemental Register
==References== * Merges, Robert P., Menell, Peter S., and Lemley, Mark A. ''Intellectual Property in the New Technological Age, Third Edition.'' Aspen Publishers, 2003. {{ISBN|0-7355-3652-X}} pp. 591–592.
==External links== * [https://www.quizlaw.com/trademarks/what_is_the_principal_register.php Explanation of the Principal Register, from QuizLaw] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20041112230938/http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode15/usc_sup_01_15_10_22_20_I.html Subchapter I of the Lanham Act] from the Legal Information Institute
{{US-law-stub}} Category:United States trademark law