Concurrent Use

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What Does Concurrent Use Mean?

Concurrent use is a type of federal trademark registration that permits use of a trademark by more than one group or agency. In the U.S., a concurrent use application is made through the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). USPTO involvement is required to prevent marketplace confusion.

Techopedia Explains Concurrent Use

As a direct trademark law protection, concurrent use is primarily enforced by the U.S. federal government and may be found in Title 15 of the U.S. Code, also known as the Lanham Act. However, trademark usage is also enforced under state laws. In digital rights management (DRM), concurrent use licensing pertains to multiple simultaneous users. A license may be purchased by organizations, schools or businesses. The fee for concurrent usage is priced per copy.

Concurrent use applications may split up geographic usage, which facilitates trademark sharing between related organizations. For example, one party may be permitted to use a trademark within a 50 mile radius, while another party may be permitted to use the same trademark within a different radius. In rare cases, the senior applicant or first party to apply for concurrent use is granted territorial trademark usage rights.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.