Trolls weaponize trademarks and hurt market places extra fees only make the issue worse

[Jacob, 09/09/2019, United States Patent and Trademark Office, “Topping_TPAC_Notice_Fees,” https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Topping_TPAC_Notice_Fees.pdf, accessed: 07/11/2024, shl]

The Problem:

Trademark trolls are filing frivolous trademarks which are damaging existing American businesses who are commonly using these well established phrases and expressions (for example: cats, dogs, beers, etc.).

Given that a simple marketplace search is not one of the tools the examiners are using to validate a filed trademark, many very common phrases and expressions are being granted trademarks.

These newly granted frivolous trademarks are then weaponized to monopolize widely shared marketplaces (Walmart, Amazon, Etsy, EBay, small business websites, etc.).

These weaponized trademarks are killing American business owners, and reducing consumer product choice and availability.

One tool the defend against these frivolous trademarks is the letter of protest (LOP).

Consequences of a new fee:

If a fee is introduced to the LOP process, then many many American businesses will suffer, commerce will suffer, consumers will suffer.

Alternate solution:

A simpler and less costly solution would be to add an online search to the trademark process. This would significantly reduce the workload, it would save USPTO both time and money. It would reduce the occurrence of frivolous trademarks. It would benefit both businesses and consumers.