can i file a trademark myself [With Tutorial]

Last updated : Sept 4, 2022

How easy is it to file a trademark?

Filing a trademark isn't a simple process, but the protection it affords your brand is worth your time and effort. To register a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), you will need to fill out and submit a trademark application.

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).

Should I get a trademark or LLC first?

4. Should you get an LLC first or trademark? Yes, you should get an LLC first before a trademark because the trademark application will need to identify the LLC as the trademark owner. You should create an LLC or business entity before you file a trademark application.

What is the easiest way to trademark a name?

Registering a trademark for a company name is pretty straightforward. Many businesses can file an application online in less than 90 minutes, without a lawyer's help. The simplest way to register is on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Web site, www.uspto.gov.

What is the most common reason that a trademark might be rejected?

Likelihood of confusion is the most common reason an application will be rejected by the USPTO. Essentially, if there is a high probability that the general public will confuse your trademark with someone else's (already existing) trademark, your registration will not be granted. The two marks need not be identical.

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!

Do I have to trademark my logo?

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.

Where is the best place to trademark a name?

• The Best Trademark Registration Services of 2022.
• LegalZoom.
• Trademark Engine.
• Rocket Lawyer.
• JPG Legal.
• Trademark Plus.
• TrademarkCenter.
• Trademark Factory.

How long does it take to get something trademarked?

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.

When should I trademark my business name?

In most cases, the best time to file a trademark application for your business name is right after you've filed paperwork to form your LLC or corporation. By doing this before your business officially launches, it protects the name for commercial use once you're up and running.

When can I start using my trademark?

Once we file the trademark within 1-2 days you may start using the TM symbol and after receiving a certificate you can use the ® symbol.

Do I need to trademark my business name and logo?

Summary. Registering your business name for a trademark isn't required in order for you to have trademark rights. However, a registered trademark can provide greater protection for your brand while helping you build your brand and drive business growth.

What are the benefits of registering a trademark?

• A Federal Trademark Registration Protects Against Infringement.
• A Federal Trademark Registration Provides Nationwide Validity.
• A Federal Trademark Registration is a Valuable Asset.
• Unique Trademarks Helps Customers Find You.

How do I register my brand name?

1. Register on the trademark office portal:
2. Trademark search:
3. Filing of trademark application:
4. Examination of trademark application:
5. Show Cause Hearing:
6. Publication of Mark in Trademark Journal:
7. Trademark registration & certification:

What Cannot be used as a trademark?

However, you can't trademark: Proper names or likenesses without consent from the person. Generic terms, phrases, or the like. Government symbols or insignia.

What can't be registered as a trademark?

The trademark as under are prohibited for trademark registration if it; Possesses such nature which deceives the public. Contains any word or matter which is likely to hurt the religious sentiments of any class of citizens of India. Contains scandalous or obscene content.

On what grounds can a trademark be refused?

A mark will be refused as deceptively misdescriptive if (1) the mark misdescribes an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose or use of the specified goods or services; and (2) the misrepresentation conveyed by the mark is plausible.

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.

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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 for your comment Jame Cittadino, have a nice day.
- Art Marinella, Staff Member

hi everyone my name is Marcela Dominguez and if you are watching this video it is because you have asked yourself on more than one occasion what website do I go to or how do I go to when I need to protect my brand your brand can come in various forms such as a business name a tagline or a logo a slogan or a sound so if you have asked yourself where in the heck do I need to go to protect my brand then you are in the right place the USPTO wait a minute wait a minute the USPTO stands for United States Patent and Trademark Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office is the website that you will use to file a trademark application a trademark what do you mean a trademark well a trademark is what will help protect your brand so as I said your brand can come in the form of a business name a slogan a tagline and even a sound but in order to protect any one of those four or all four of those you will need to go to the United States Patent and Trademark Office website uspto.gov is where you will find the application that you can fill out to inform the USPTO about your business your business address how you're using that brand or if you're not using your brand then then how you are when you are going to start using your brand so uspto.gov is your one-stop shop for filing your trademark application and for securing and protecting that name or that brand in a particular class so just because you go to the USPTO website and you file an application let's say for a beautiful logo that you really worked hard on it doesn't mean that no one else is going to be able to use that logo in any category you see whenever you file an application with the USPTO you are going to be forced to select an identification of goods and/or services what that means is you need to be able to tell the spc oh how you are going to use your mark or how you are currently using your mark so you can't tell the USPTO I want to file a business name for Nike and I don't want anybody in any category to be able to use it it doesn't work that way so when you file the application for the word or the business name Nike you have to select the identification of goods or services and in this case that identification would be for clothing clothing can be more specific such as pants skirts hoodies tees tank tops you catch my drift so what that means is that whenever you file that application no one will be able to use a similar name or the exact name in that category of goods or services of clothing now the USPTO offers three different types of applications the most expensive being two hundred and seventy-five dollars now there are a couple of differences which you will be able to read about at uspto.gov but I can tell you that one of the differences is that when you choose the most expensive application to file you will be able to input your class your identification of goods and services as opposed to selecting from a list with the two hundred and twenty-five dollar application now if you're somebody that is not quite sure of what you're going to be using in the future or you're simply not quite sure how to word it in an acceptable way for the United States Thailand trademark office then selecting from the list might be a good way for you to learn about what exactly a goods and services list looks like and what options are out there for you to choose from now if you go through an attorney more more likely than not the attorney will probably choose the two hundred and seventy five dollar application but that's because they know exactly how to input the identification and maybe there are you know customizable necessities that need to go into your application so the two hundred and seventy five dollar option is good for that now the United States Patent and Trademark Office website has lots of different reason since they also have some videos they have information that describes an intent to use application and actual use application they have a goods and services manual where you can look up the different identifications of goods and services so if you go on there in your spare time then you will be able to read up on exactly what is going to happen to your trademark application and what you should expect during the application process if you try calling the United States Patent and Trademark Office because you have questions then more likely than not they will tell you that they are not attorneys that can help you or give legal advice so that is where lawyers come in and help walk you through the process and help answer your questions to be honest that's the reason why I create informational videos like these I want to help you understand a little bit more about what you're getting into if you decide to file a trademark application and that is not always easy because let's be straightforward who wants to go through an entire website to learn about the process I certainly wouldn't want to luckily for you I have created so many videos on this trademark application process that you can watch in my channel so do me a favor and hit the red button below and subscribe to my channel so that you can be notified whenever I release new information my goal is always for you to learn more than you knew when you started watching this video so if you have questions about the United States Patent & Trademark Office and how it works or how this whole trademark thing applies to you and your specific situation then leave me a message in the comments below better yet leave me a thumbs up so I know that you appreciated the content of this video I'd be more than happy to accept your private messages through email which I will leave down below I look forward to helping you out in the future and if not then I hope that you continue to watch these videos and learn more than you knew when you started watching

Thanks skimpyU your participation is very much appreciated
- Art Marinella

About the author

Art Marinella

I've studied soil mechanics at Christian Brothers University in Memphis and I am an expert in jealousy sociology. I usually feel hopeful. My previous job was secretary I held this position for 7 years, I love talking about weightlifting and gaelic football. Huge fan of Chris Young I practice beach volleyball and collect cards.