Trademarks are useful tools which allow brands to protect their distinctive names and logos.
This article will cover Trademark Class 19, which broadly protects various types of non-metal building materials.
What is a Trademark?
Before you can even begin to research the registration process, you might be asking yourself what a trademark actually is.
A trademark is an image, logo, design, phrase, etc. that helps you create a brand for your company. It shows that you are the origin of a given product and sets you apart from your competition.
Registering a Trademark with the USPTO
The application process for registering a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has several parts.
One of the most important parts of the application is figuring out which international trademark class fits the good or service your company provides.
There are 45 different classes which each cover various collections of goods and services.
If you want to register your trademark you'll need to submit an online application to the USPTO.
The online registration platform they use is called the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).
There are a few different types of trademark applications, including the TEAS Plus form, the TEAS Reduced Fee form, and the TEAS Regular form.
Figuring out which application is right for you can be a little challenging.
If you're having a hard time figuring out which application you need to use to register, don’t hesitate to contact an attorney for help.
Benefits of Registering Your Trademark
Registering a mark with the USPTO gives your brand a few important benefits, such as protection from infringement.
When you register, you gain the right to bring legal action against any individual or company which infringes on your rights.
Your protections also extend beyond just your local area and into the realm of e-commerce, allowing you to protect your brand online as well.
Avoid Infringement
In order to avoid trademark infringements, always do thorough research.
Use the USPTO's TESS database to make sure someone does not already use a similar mark in the same industry.
Figuring this out will require you to have a good knowledge of the trademark classes, so that you know which industries your business belongs to.
A lot of the time your good or service will have components that fall under more than one class.
Registering a Class 19 Trademark
When you register a trademark with the USPTO, you are protected against infringement from other companies in the same industry.
For this reason, it's possible for two companies to have similar names or logos as long as they operate in different market spaces.
For example, this is why two separate trademarks can be filed for Delta Airlines and Delta Faucets, as there is little chance of the similarity causing customer confusion.
What Is a Class 19 Trademark?
Trademark Class 19 includes primarily non-metal building materials.
It also includes some pipes, stone work, wooden materials, structures, structure components, signs, glass, pavement materials, and some other related goods.
It’s important to remember that most of these materials do not contain metal.
Even if you see your good in the following examples, if it contains metal in any capacity it might belong in a different class.
Goods Protected by Class 19
The large majority of the goods that Class 19 covers are various forms of non-metal building materials.
Some common examples of materials include asbestos products, agglomerated cork, wooden beams, girders, binding agents for brick and stone, bricks, building timber and lumber, building stone, cement slabs and other select cement products, chimney related components, concrete, drainpipes, ducts for ventilation and air conditioning, floor tiles, foundry molds, and more.
To be a bit more specific, Class 19 covers all non-metal forms of:
- Stone Materials - Stone for building such as granite, quartz, slate, gravel, and more all fall in this class.
- Wooden Materials - As you can see from our examples above, most types of structural wood falls under this category as well. Plywood, timber and lumber, and other semi-worked woods are all in Class 19.
- Glass Materials - Most forms of glass used in construction also fall under this class. Alabaster glass, enameled glass, safety glass, and stained-glass windows all appear here as well.
- Pavement Materials - A number of materials used to pave roads also appear in this class. Common examples include asphalt, coal tar, paving blocks and slabs, road marking sheets, and pitch.
- Structures and Structure Components - A wide variety of pre-made structures also fall under this category, as long as they aren't made of metal. Aquariums, pre-fabricated houses, windows, staircases, folding doors, and more all fall under this class.
- Pipes - A number of non-metallic rigid pipes for building fall in this class as well. Some examples include drainage pipes, gutter pipes, and penstock pipes.
Other Items in Class 19
Trademark Class 19 covers a wide range of goods which you might not expect as well.
Most forms of potter's clay, stone monuments, busts, and figurines, swimming pools, tombs, and aquarium sand all fall under this class.
Signs are another common item that can be found Class 19. However, these signs need to be either non-luminous, non-mechanical, and non-metallic.
In this way, various types of wooden road signs and advertisement columns appear in this category as well.
Related Classes
There are a few classes that are closely related to Class 19 which your company might want to consider filing under as well.
These classes include:
- Class 6 - Common Metals
- Class 17 - Rubber and Plastic Products
- Class 37 - Constructions Services
- Class 40 - Material Treatment Services.
Remember that if your trademark falls under more than one class, you'll need to register in each individual class to gain full protections.
For example, if your business sells pavement materials and rubber hoses, you'll need to file under both Class 17 and Class 19.
If your business installs these products, you'll have to register under Class 37 as well.
Conclusion
Figuring out which trademark classes your product or service fall under can be a difficult task.
Doing your research and learning about the different types of applications and the different classes will make this process easier.
Trademark Class 19 generally covers all non-metal building materials, but also includes several other related items.
If your business sells any goods included in our lists above, you might want to consider filing under this class.
