Also known as: uses in trade · used in trade · using in trade · commercial use · trade use
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Actual employment of a mark on goods or in connection with services in the ordinary course of business to identify and distinguish their source.
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Ulysses Ulrich operated a local delivery service. Urban Logistics affixed the mark "Ulysses Delivery" to packages and vehicles in daily operations. The placement constituted use in trade that identified the source of the services.
Uptown Apparel ran an online campaign using its house mark on apparel shipped across state lines. The campaign placed the mark on goods in ordinary business and raised choice-of-law questions about whether the deployment qualified as use in trade under the forum's trademark rules.
Use in trade refers to the traditional common-law requirement of actual placement of a mark on goods or services in ordinary business. Use in commerce is the broader federal statutory standard under the Lanham Act that courts have interpreted more liberally, sometimes approaching an intent-to-use model.
Supporting sources