You Can't Just Print Your Trademark On the Front of Clothing.
Clothing related trademarks frequently run into problems when trying to show the trademark office that they are using their mark on a product. Often, trademark applicants will send in pictures of their clothing that show their trademark printed on the clothing itself as the main design.
For example:
Applied For Trademark
Use of Trademark on a Product
This use is 100% allowed in the real world - for example, large clothing companies like the GAP or Banana Republic regularly come up with designs that put their company name on the front of the shirts they make. However, if you were to show the trademark office the use of your mark, the example above would be rejected. The Trademark Office would say that the use is "merely ornamental" and would not approve the application. Basically, the trademark office is concerned that consumers won't see JUNKIE TEEZ on the T-shirt as a trademark (the name of a company or brand), but just as artwork or an interesting phrase.
Option 1: Label Your Clothing Properly
The classic way to identify the brand responsible for an item of clothing is to attach some sort of label to the garment. Think of a plain white T-shirt. How do you know it was made by Hanes®? Because you read the label on the shirt. You need to do the same.
1. Sewing in labels (or screen-printing this information) within the clothing product that displays your trademark.
2. Attaching paper “hang tags” to the clothing that displays your trademark.
To protect your apparel brand in the future, you should adopt one or both of these practices and make them part of your apparel manufacturing process. ALWAYS sell your apparel with either a sewn-in label or a hang tag attached.
What We Need From You To Draft Paperwork Showing Actual Use of Properly Labeled Clothing
To demonstrate actual use to the trademark office, we need one or two pictures of the labels sewn into the product or the hang tag attached. The photo must be clear AND it must show your trademark printed on the label or tag. In most cases, a camera phone works well for this.
Here’s an example:
Option 2: Turn Your Logo into an E-commerce Brand
If you have a bunch of products with your logo on them, such as a variety of different clothing items, you can simply take the trademarked logo and use it as the brand name of your e-commerce store.
Provided that consumers can go to the store, see your logo in the upper left corner of the website, and place an order for goods, then your online store can be used as evidence of use of your trademark in commerce. For this strategy to work:
Good must be in stock
Consumers can place an order, specify a shipping address, and pay
Consumers located in the United States have already made purchase of your products prior to the date we claim use in commerce on your behalf.
Your sales must be part of an ongoing business (selling one or two isn't going to cut it).
In the e-commerce example, consumers recognize your logo as the brand name of your company (as that who they are placing the order from your store), turning your logo from a cool design on a shirt and transforming it into a clothing company brand.
What We Need From You To Draft Paperwork Showing Actual Use with an E-commerce Store
We need the link to your online, working e-commerce store. We'll take a few pictures showing the products for sale and the presence of your logo in the upper left corner where brand logos are usually placed. We will need the date you made your first online sale to a U.S. customer.