Welcome to Trademark Law Radio, a top web resource on issues of trademark infringement, trademark licensing, trademark protection, and trademark registration.

This is Brian Hall, a trademark attorney with Traverse Legal, PLC, a law firm representing trademark owners throughout the United States.

Today, I will be answering a common question.  And that question is: “What constitutes a trademark’s first use in commerce?  And the reason that question comes up fairly often is because when filing for a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the applicant must provide two dates.  The first is known as the first use in commerce date, and the second is known as the first use date.  The first use date is exactly as it sounds.  It’s the first date that you actually made use of the particular mark in connection with the goods or services for which you’re applying.  However, the first use in commerce date has a bit more legal meaning.
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