A trademark assignment is a great option for a complete transfer of ownership rights in a trademark or service mark. An assignment can be useful when reorganizing an entity, acquiring someone’s else’s intellectual property, contributing your assets to a newly formed entity, or bringing all your intellectual property assets under one roof. However, trademark assignments must be valid to be effective. To ensure their validity, certain laws and steps must be followed, or serious consequences could occur.

Recently, an invalid trademark assignment resulted in the cancellation of a trademark registration. In Emerald Cities Collaborative, Inc. v. Sheri Jean Roese, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit resolved a dispute hinging on whether Emerald Cities Collaborative, Inc. had a valid assignment from the prior owner for the mark THE EMERALD CITY. The previous owner was an individual unconnected to the company. Even though the assignment agreement indicated plainly that the assignment would become valid only after the mark registered, the Court affirmed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s ruling that the assignment was improper and the mark should be canceled.