When an Examining Attorney at the Trademark Office reviews an application for registration of a Mark, they may find reasons why the Mark should not be allowed to register, or they may find formalities that must be addressed to have the Mark correctly register – when such are found, an Office Action is issued requiring a response within typically six (6) months.

A process by which someone who will be injured by the registration may oppose the Mark before it registers to thereby prevent it from registering – this would be the case where someone else has been using the Mark for a substantial period of time and someone else (who may or may not have been using it longer) files for registration.