Trademark documents present different "dates", filing date, registration date, priority date, first use in commerce, etc. Can someone explain at which type of "managerial" event each date might be related to? For instance, may filing date be related to product/marketing innovation?
Furthermore, I noticed that the date of first use in commerce sometimes come before the filing date. How is that possible?
Can you suggest any references (especially from USPTO) that can provide some clarification?
Simple.
Filing date and registration date refer to the dates when an applicant files a trademark registration application, and when this application is allowed by USPTO, respectively.
Priority date refers to the first date of a "constructive use" of a mark, upon which one trademark application can rely. Normally this refers to two applications of the same trademark owned by the same owner in different countries. When each trademark application has its own priority date, then two applications of the exactly same mark by two different applicants can go to a court and settle the ownership of the mark. The party with the legitimate, earlier priority date of the mark wins.
In trademark, the key is to put the mark on a product and use it! It has no requirement for the product's novelty.
You can sell a product with your trademark on the market for a while, determine that the product is a commercial success and needs trademark protection, then file an application for the trademark within the statutory required time frame when first-use has been initiated. In this way, the owner may not run the risk of spending money on a useless trademark.
I generally agree with Feng Tian. Priority date usually means that the trade mark registration applicant has applied on an earlier date (the priority date) to register the same mark for (substantially) the same goods or services in a different country before the application that you are looking at was filed and is asking the trademark registration office to treat the application you are looking at as if it had been filed on that earlier date. That is: I file for KODAK in the UK on 12 Jan 2012, and file in France for KODAK on 12 May 2012 claiming priority from my UK application. You make your first filing for KODAK, in France, on 12 March 2012 - sorry, you lose because my effective date in France is 12 Jan 2012 which is earlier than yours. First use in commerce is what it says - the day you first used the mark in trade in the country in question. (It matters in the US). First use in commerce can and often will predate the trademark application date because generally you don't have to register a mark before you can begin using it.
I recommend that you review the Trademark Basics and Process Overview on the USPTO website
http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-getting-started/trademark-basics
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