List of top trademark filers for 2010 yields a big surprise

How does it happen that perennial leader in trademark filings by law firm, Greenberg Traurig, now files just 1/3 as many trademarks as the new leader, Raj Abhyanker PC?

Corporation Service Company and World Trademark Review have just compiled a list of the top trademark filers for 2010. CSC says, “For the first time, a Web-based trademark services firm, Raj Abhyanker PC, unseated the more traditional law firms that have long dominated this industry to claim top spot for filing volume.”

Mr. Abhyanker’s www.trademarkia.com is the secret.  It allows for free searches of USPTO-registered  trademarks (trademark owners can request removal of theirs from the site, so it is not all inclusive), and then follows each with a solicitation for low-priced trademark services that are performed by attorneys at Raj Abhyanker PC.

On his blog, Raj Abhyanker describes the difference between Trademarkia and the law firm’s services:

“Trademarkia is a search engine whose aim it is to make government information more accessible, interesting and understandable to consumers.    

“Trademarkia is not a law firm and does not earn any money from trademark filing or any other legal services. The representation by Raj Abhyanker P.C. is made clear on the Trademarkia website in a number of places, and representation by the firm of Raj Abhyanker P.C. must be assented to in the last step of the trademark workflow on Trademarkia.”  

Get used to it. The entrepreneurial efforts that have been successful in trademarks will soon be applied to other legal areas: corporate search, immigration search, patent analytics, international trademark search and copyright search. The model will be essentially the same:  searches are free; legal help is available at a low price.