A U.S. trademark law provision is being used by some companies to keep their trademark filings a secret for up to six months. In certain industries and for specific businesses, this window of secrecy is an incredibly valuable tool.

But it may also mean in-house counsel have to rethink how they are searching trademark filings ahead of launching a new product or when trying to monitor a competitor's activity, according to one in-house intellectual property attorney.

Section 44(d) of the U.S. Trademark Act provides a priority filing date for eligible trademark applicants who have filed an application in any one of a number of countries that are part of a treaty with the United States. For instance, a company may file a trademark application in Australia and then, within six months, the applicant would file an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office claiming 44(d) priority. The result is that the filing date of the foreign application is the effective filing date of the U.S. application.