Life F.
Be cautious with their counsel
Be cautious with their counsel. I discovered you can't trust their advice. Markavo suggested to cancel 3 of the trademark classes we already had and secure another class for better coverage. I did appreciate the suggestion for better coverage. However, after I cancelled the 3 classes I had already established for 5-6 years, I discovered that I should have kept the 3 classes they said I didn't need. But after discussion, I found out I did need them after they were cancelled and it was too late to recoup. They were now telling me that I needed those classes for some of the items we had previously discussed. I asked them numerous times the reason they suggested I cancel those classes, as now they were suggesting I need them back. They continued to skirt the issue and refused to address their mistake, even pushing it back on me that I cancelled them even though I had begun the process of maintaining the 3 classes with the USPTO. Markavo, please don't reply with excuses for your bad counsel. This was unacceptable. I already had the classes secured, and based on your counsel, I cancelled them. There was no need to cancel them and then be told well, you need them back. In my opinion, Markavo should have owned up to their mistakes and helped to reinstate the 3 classes I cancelled due to their counsel. However, their suggestion was to contact them if I wanted to reinstate the 3 classes they suggested I cancel. Markavo, thanks for leaving me stranded on this.
Response from markavo.comJul 24, 2026
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience, Mark. We hear the frustration in your review and understand how the sequence of events around the LIVE IT! registration left you feeling stranded. That is never the outcome we want for any client, and we appreciate you raising it so we can address the record clearly. Here is the accurate timeline based on our 2022 correspondence and the USPTO documents from that period: In November 2022 you contacted us after you had already filed the Section 8 Affidavit yourself (and paid the $675 fee) for Registration No. 5307851 / Serial No. 87118477 — a mark you originally filed and maintained on your own. The USPTO then issued the November 21, 2022 Office Action rejecting the specimen for Class 36 and randomly selecting the registration for audit. The audit required proof of use specifically for: - Class 14 Jewelry, namely, bracelets, wristbands and necklaces that also provides notification to the wearer of a pending medical related task; Rubber or silicone wristbands in the nature of a bracelet - Class 25 T-shirts; T-shirts for people to wear; Wristbands; Graphic T-shirts; Short-sleeved or long-sleeved t-shirts - Class 36 charitable fundraising services by means of soliciting donations and selling goods to raise funds for community outreach and new church construction Those issues could not be overcome with the evidence available at the time. The original identification listed goods and services for which continuous commercial use in the volumes needed to satisfy an audit was simply not present. Because we were never the attorneys of record on that file, we had no ability to “save” the existing classes once the Office Action and audit were pending. Given that reality, we recommended a clean new filing focused on Christian ministry services in a single class (Class 45), which you hired us to perform. That approach was deliberate: Class 45 protection for Christian ministry services covers the full range of activities ministries typically perform — community outreach, events, digital content, fundraising, and related promotional efforts that include printing messaging on t-shirts, wristbands, or other accessories. It is broader and more durable protection for the core of what Life Fellowship actually does, without the recurring cost and risk of maintaining multiple classes where use evidence was weak. Trademark strategy is not “register every possible class.” Organizations only need to protect what is commercially valuable. A winery will always protect wine sales; it rarely needs to spend the extra filing fees and maintenance costs to protect corkscrews it barely sells. The same principle applies here. Extra classes for clothing or jewelry make sense only when those become meaningful commercial activities. If and when that occurs, a new application in Class 25 (or any other class) can be filed at that point. That was our advice in 2022 and it remains our advice today. We stand by both the 2022 recommendation and the guidance we have continued to provide in 2026: the current registration gives solid coverage for your ministry’s primary work. The original classes could not be preserved once the self-filed renewal triggered the Office Action and audit. We have consistently explained the difference between core service protection and optional product classes, distinguished legitimate concerns from common scams, and offered the practical next step (a new Class 25 application) when apparel sales become a priority. We remain ready to help you evaluate exactly what protection makes commercial sense for Life Fellowship going forward. Please feel free to contact us directly so we can walk through the current registration and any expansion options together.