California Secretary of State Alex Padilla's office is rolling out a new system for trademark and servicemark approval today.
Previously any business wishing to register a trademark in California had to deliver a paper application with an attached picture and wait weeks for its approval.
The software allows a business to upload a photo of its mark, in JPEG or PDF format. This reduces the review and approval time from weeks to days.
The new software, known as ThinkSmart Automation Platform (TAP), is part of the office’s effort “to modernize and automate the agency to make it easier for entrepreneurs not just to interface with us, but to get businesses up and running in California,” Secretary Alex Padilla told Techwire.
The project was rolled out in about seven weeks, according to Padilla, because ThinkSmart is one of the California Department of Technology’s pre-approved vendors.
TAP, like state Treasurer John Chiang's Business Incentives Portal, is part of the overall effort to streamline business processes, Padilla said.
The Secretary of State's Digital Business Initiative has received recognition from GO-Biz as it makes efforts to augment existing tools.
