• For marks registered under the Lanham Act or under some state registration schemes, a written assignment is required to transfer an interest in a registered mark or in a pending application to register a mark. [Cases: Trade Regulation 102. C.J.S. Trade-Marks, Trade-Names, and Unfair Competition §§ 205, 207.]
automatic assignment doctrine
Trademarks. The rule that, absent evidence to the contrary, the sale of an entire business carries with it and transfers to the purchaser any common-law marks used in that business without the need for a written assignment.