Can i apply for a trademark myself [Beginner's Guide]

Last updated : Sept 22, 2022

What is the cheapest way to trademark something?

The basic cost to trademark a business name ranges from $225 to $600 per trademark class. This is the cost to submit your trademark application to the USPTO. The easiest and least expensive way to register your trademark is online, through the USPTO's Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).

How do I make my own trademark?

A unique logo can be trademarked by registering it with the USPTO. Anyone can apply online on the USPTO website if the business for which they're authorized to file is principally located inside the U.S. If based outside the U.S., a patent attorney will be required to make the filing.

How long does a trademark last?

A federal trademark lasts 10 years from the date of registration, with 10-year renewal terms. Between the fifth and sixth year after the registration date, the registrant must file an affidavit to state that the mark is still in use.

How much is a trademark worth?

Trademarks can have no value, or can be very valuable indeed – it all depends on the business associated with the mark!

Should I trademark or copyright my logo?

How to legally protect your logo design. To protect your logo, you need a trademark or service mark (trademarks are generally used for products, while service marks are usually applied to services). You should not copyright or patent a logo design.

How long does it take to trademark a name?

Usually, the process takes 12 to 18 months. Registering your trademark is a complex procedure that involves your application moving through various stages. Learning about each stage in the process will help you understand why getting a trademark takes as long as it does.

Can I put TM on my logo without registering?

The (TM) symbol actually has no legal meaning. You can use the symbol on any mark that your company uses without registering it. The most common use of the TM symbol is on a new phrase, logo, word, or design that a company plans to register through the USPTO.

What are the three types of trademarks?

What you'll learn: Arbitrary and Fanciful Trademarks. Suggestive Trademarks. Descriptive Trademarks.

Can you lose a trademark if you don't protect it?

If you don't enforce your trademark, you risk losing reputation, business, sales, customers, and more to the infringer. There's also a concept in trademark law called abandonment. Generally, if you don't use your mark for three years or more, it's considered abandoned.

What can I do with a trademark?

A trademark protects a good or service offered by a company from infringement or damage of reputation by another company. With a trademark, you have legal recourse to sue another company that uses your likeness to further their own business ventures. This includes both registered and unregistered trademarks.

Can you sell without a trademark?

You can sell products or offer services in the United States without having a registered trademark.

How do I trademark a name for free?

You can not register a trademark for free. However, you can establish something known as a "common law trademark" for free, simply by opening for business. The benefit of relying on common law trademark rights is that it's free, and you don't need to do any specific work filling out forms, etc.

What is the most valuable trademark?

• Amazon – 416 Billion Dollars.
• Apple – 352 Billion Dollars.
• Microsoft – 327 Billion Dollars.
• Google – 324 Billion Dollars.
• Visa – 187 Billion Dollars.
• Alibaba – 153 Billion Dollars.
• Tencent – 151 Billion Dollars.
• Facebook – 147 Billion Dollars.

What can you not trademark?

• Proper names or likenesses without consent from the person.
• Generic terms, phrases, or the like.
• Government symbols or insignia.
• Vulgar or disparaging words or phrases.
• The likeness of a U.S. President, former or current.
• Immoral, deceptive, or scandalous words or symbols.
• Sounds or short motifs.

Should I trademark before LLC?

It is important to get BOTH an LLC and a trademark and it is best to form the LLC BEFORE applying for a trademark. Each offers different protections, and they work together to provide broad protection for your business. It is better to form an LLC before filing a trademark application.

How can I protect my logo legally?

If you want to protect your brand identity you have to register a trademark for your company name, logos, and slogans. By using the trademark symbol, you notify other people that products they use are your property. In order to prevent unauthorized use of your mark by third parties, you have to choose a strong one.

Can I use my trademark while its pending?

A trademark pending status is an interim solution for protecting your intellectual property. You can use the trademark or service mark symbols with your design, but you need to make sure you file the trademark application as soon as possible.

How do I know if a brand name is taken?

Before you apply, you should search the USPTO's trademark database (Trademark Electronic Search System, or TESS) to see if any trademark has already been registered or applied for that is: Similar to your trademark. Used on related products or for related services, and. Live.

How do I trademark a name and logo?

1. Complete a trademark search.
2. Secure your rights.
3. Submit an initial application at uspto.gov on the Trademark Electronic Application System or TEAS.
4. Fill out the TEAS form for an initial application. Be sure to upload the file of your logo.
5. Submit an "intent-to-use" form.
6. Pay the fees.

What's the difference between R and TM?

You do not have to have registered a trademark to use it and many companies will opt to use the TM symbol for new goods or services in advance of and during the application process. The R symbol indicates that this word, phrase, or logo is a registered trademark for the product or service.

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establish your business protect your name and keep your profit hello I'm Tammy Shambaugh a houston-based attorney and creator of ask Tammy live where we discuss the best ways to establish your business protect your name and keep your profits today we are going to answer the question can I register my trademark by myself the short answer to your question is yes all things are possible sue he who believes but the better question is should you let's explore that a little bit more the reason why I say should you is that if you work really hard at it yes you can but who knows how successful you'll be because there are three areas that you really need to consider when it comes to being successful on registering your trademark the first thing you want to think about is your level of skill and experience right you want to consider it do I know this trademark world enough when you go online and you see the different online providers that are trying to help you register your trademark on your own one of the things that they never tell you is they don't tell you that in most trademark applications you're going to receive an initial denial they don't tell you that and they don't tell you how to solve that they don't tell you that that's where a lot of trademark registrations die they don't tell you any of that they don't tell you that you are going to be put up against another attorney that the people at the United States Patent and Trademark Office are actually attorneys evaluating your mark that's really really important to know that your skill level with regards to navigating legal documents and making legal arguments may be required in registering your trademark so your question is how much skills do I have in this area the next question you want to ask is how much time do I have to waste see has an attorney this is what I do this is what I like to do it's not a waste of time before an entrepreneur who has to worry about product development what's to worry about customer service who has to worry about marketing is this another thing you want to add to your plate do you want to now go back and do the research that and in the study that I got to do in getting my degree in getting my license if you want to feel free to but I would hope that your time is more valuable than that I believe that it would probably be a better use for you to find someone who can help you do this quickly who can help you do this thoroughly without any issues I think it'd be better for you to get help a trademark attorney or a business based attorney who can help you get through this so that you can focus on your work and you know the truth you know that you have a lot already you know that as an entrepreneur your days are packed focus on the things that are in front of you and let someone help you that's one of the business secrets nobody becomes successful by themselves they outsource things to other experts and to other people who can specialize in areas and they figure out what they're best at and they hone in and focus and do that that's what I think you should do the third thing I want you to consider is your access to resources so it's not just a matter of skill because hey you could probably you know you might be much smarter than me you know more equipped very skillful and you may have all the time in the world but the question is you also have the access to the resources I have most people will tell you do your initial search you look up your mark under the United States Patent and Trademark Office it's a great step helps you wade through certain things but trust me that's not where we stop as attorneys we don't just check the United States Patent and Trademark Office we look at others databases we look at your local database as we look nationally we look at domains we look at social media accounts we do in-depth trademark search and clearance before you invest in building this brand so that you don't regret it later so many people decide I'm gonna do this myself they decide I don't need to register a trademark they just start a business and they invest time money and energy just to find out down the line that they are infringing on someone else and all their work goes to no I don't want that to be you so again the question is now can you do this the question is should you I hope this video has been helpful to you if it has been please feel free to subscribe below additionally go ahead and follow me on social media on places like Instagram and Facebook I'm constantly doing live videos where I'm sharing information bringing people in talking about different things sharing stories from real business people like you so that people don't make the same mistakes all right so follow me so you can get access to that additionally I want to invite you if you do need help in your in the Texas area I'm an attorney if you need help you always have access to that you can feel free to schedule a consultation with me by visiting www.cavaliermazda.com

Thanks for your comment Willia Swann, have a nice day.
- Lonna Winfrey, Staff Member

hey y'all so having your llc does not mean that you own your brand name in order to own your brand name you must have a federal trademark registration what if i told you that you can file your trademark without hiring an attorney yes it's true and we are going to go step by step of how to file a trademark application without spending all the big bucks with hiring an attorney so welcome back to my channel i am boss attorney bri and this is the place for influencers and content creators to come to boss up their business the legal and legit way like i said we are going to be discussing how you file a trademark on your own without an attorney as we know trademarks fall under the law and it is always recommended that you hire an attorney to help you file your trademark but also as being an attorney and working with a lot of new business owners i understand that filing a trademark with an attorney can be really really expensive and using a document preparation service such as legal zoom or trademark engine can end up making you waste the money because they are not doing the research of an attorney so today i am going to be walking you through the steps to file your trademark application on your own without spending the big money with the attorneys and without wasting money by using a document preparation service so let's get started the first step to filing your trademark application comes way before you actually click that button to file the trademark application the first thing you must do before you file your trademark is to do a trademark search with the united states patent and trademark office that website is uspto.gov and you will go there and do a basic trademark search to make sure that your name is still available as a trademark also remember when you are searching your trademark name it is important to realize that just because a name is not on the register does not mean that there may be someone else out there using the name so on top of searching the uspto make sure you also search social media and google in general to make sure that your name is not being used another important step to searching your trademark name is to check for variations of the name because to have a trademark you do not necessarily need to have the same name conflicting with you you may also get denied if you have a similar name conflicting with you so make sure that you check your name and you check the variation of spelling of your name another thing to realize when searching your trademark is that your trademark must be strong enough to survive as a trademark so just because you don't see a name out there on the uspto that someone is using the name they may still be out there so that is why it's really important to search google because if your name is considered generic or descriptive someone may not try to register that name but they may already be out there so make sure that your name is unique when you are filing a trademark the next step to filing your trademark is still before you actually file your trademark you are going to want to determine what class of goods or service that your trademark application will fall under you can figure out what class your trademark falls under by searching the uspto's id manual by typing in the word of the goods or the products or services that your company sells you will be able to find what class of goods or service you fall into it is important to search all products or services that you have and the ones that you intend to expand into so that you can list each one of those things within the same application because if you register your trademark and you say that you're doing apparel but you only register for t-shirts but it turns out that you're also doing leggings and pants and sweatshirts then you may not be fully protected under your trademark it's really important to determine what class your products and services fall into because you do not want to end up applying for the same trademark in the same class because that is going to increase the amount of money that you pay in addition you want to know what class your products or services fall under because if they do not fall within the same category and you file that application together you are going to end up paying more than one fee because each class of goods or services require that you pay an additional application fee so it is super important that you know which classes your products and services fall under because that way you can determine how much money you are going to end up paying before you actually submit the application the third step is to actually file your trademark application you file your trademark application online on uspto.gov it will require you to create an account so that you can file the application and then you will begin to fill out the information the first page of the application includes general information such as the owner's name whether you're an llc your address and any other contact information that that page asks you for the next page asks you to enter your trademark on this page you will upload either your logo or you will type your name in plain text depending on what type of trademark you are filing for once you do that you will submit specimens specimens are proof that you are using your trademark so you have to show the government that you are actually using the trademark before you can actually get a trademark registration there is an intent to use application that at the time that you submit your application you do not have to show that you are actually using the trademark you can submit the application without the specimens or without the proof that you are actually using the trademark but before your trademark registers you will have to show proof that you are using that trademark in commerce so basically you are putting it out there for people to be able to buy your product or service and then of course you can review your application you sign it you pay and it will give you your receipt and your application number so that you can easily find your trademark application once your trademark application is submitted the uspto will assign an examiner to your application typically this will take about three months but at the time of this recording the uspto is really behind in assigning examiners to applications so you can expect to wait up to five months maybe even longer depending on what category you are filing in once that examiner gets your application they have the choice to accept your application or issue an office action to you that is a refusal for the uspto to register your trademark for whatever reason okay so filing for a trademark is not guaranteed so it's really important that you have all the correct information put into your application to give you a better chance of getting your trademark registered the trademark process altogether generally takes 8 to 12 months but again like i said at the time of this recording they are pretty backed up so it could end up taking longer depending on what class your trademark is in and how many confusingly similar marks there are if you have any questions ab

Thanks Mirella your participation is very much appreciated
- Lonna Winfrey

About the author

Lonna Winfrey

I've studied statistical classification at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Rochester and I am an expert in philosophy of economics. I usually feel ashamed. My previous job was fish hatchery specialist I held this position for 27 years, I love talking about tattooing and fantasy sports. Huge fan of Alan Walker I practice snooker and collect books.