Trademarks and e-business - vital partners in the 21st century

The explosion of interest in registering domain names as trademarks at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is described. The potential benefits of e.g. ".com" trademark registrations is explored in the wider context of a massive increase in applications for trademark registrations generally, the rapid expansion of e-commerce, and the registration of many millions of domain names with various authorities. The article concludes with a summary of the corresponding expansion of the USPTO web site to cater for the increasing familiarity of the commercial pubic with the Internet. This includes, for trademarks, three systems - electronic search (TESS), electronic application (TEAS) and electronic information on pending and registered trademarks (TARR).US trademark Domain name E-commerce Electronic trademark search TESS Internet Electronic trademark application TEAS Electronic trademark status TARR