How to file federal trademark [Best Info]

Last updated : Aug 28, 2022

How do I register a trademark in the US?

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) encourages online filing via TEAS (Trademark Electronic Application System) on its website at https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-application-process/filing-online/initial-application-forms. Over 85 percent of trademark applications are filed electronically.

How much does it cost to file a trademark in the USA?

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).

Do I need an attorney to register a trademark in the USA?

No. You do not need an attorney to file an application for registration of a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Can I apply for a trademark myself?

Any layman who wants to register a trademark can apply himself. But when the practical applicability is considered, appointing an attorney will ease the process to register a trademark. Certain procedures are to be followed to apply for a trademark. An application is filed.

What are the three requirements for trademarks?

• Arbitrary, fanciful, or suggestive: If a mark is a part of one of these three categories, the mark is inherently distinctive.
• Descriptive: A descriptive mark can only be trademarked if it has taken on a second meaning.
• Generic: Marks that are generic are never trademarked.

How long is a trademark good for?

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.

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.

How long does trademark protection last?

The term of trademark registration can vary, but is usually ten years. It can be renewed indefinitely on payment of additional fees. Trademark rights are private rights and protection is enforced through court orders. What kinds of trademark can be registered?

Is it easy 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.

Can you register a trademark without a company?

Any individual – Indian National or Foreign National can easily register a trademark in India. There is no requirement for forming a legal entity or business entity to register a trademark.

Why do you need a trademark lawyer?

With a trademark attorney, you can know the aspects of your trademark that require protection and those that don't. He or she will also ensure the trademark application is properly filed right from the start so that you can avoid forfeiting filing fees, and adequately respond to preliminary refusals.

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.

How much does it cost to get a name trademarked?

The official fee charged by the Indian trademark office is Rs. 4500 (Individuals, Startups and Small and Medium Enterprises – SME's) and Rs. 9000 (for others) per mark per class.

How long does a trademark registration take?

Ans: Trademark Registration is a lengthy process and it takes around 18-24 months to obtain registration in a straight-forward case, without any objections or oppositions. However, the trademark application number is usually issued within one or 2 days after filing.

What are the 4 types of trademarks?

• Generic. A generic term is a common description that does not receive trademark protection.
• Descriptive.
• Suggestive.
• Arbitrary or Fanciful.

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.

What is a federal trademark?

A federal trademark or service mark is commonly a word, symbol, design, or combination of such, which (a) identifies the source of goods or services and (b) distinguishes such from the goods or services of others.

What are the benefits of having 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.

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.

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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Write a comment

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 for your comment Ron Pee, have a nice day.
- Raleigh Storment, Staff Member

hey this is attorney elizabeth potts weinstein and today we're going to talk about how to file your own trademark application with the united states patent and trademark office including a step-by-step tutorial of exactly how to do it on the uspto.gov website in this video i'm assuming that you already have most of the stuff put together for your trademark application and you're ready to go if you don't have that stuff done check out this playlist and you will get all the step-by-step bits of informations and decisions you need to have already done before you get started with your filing so the first thing to do is to go to the uspto.gov website here we have the website for uspto.gov united states patent and trademark office if you go under trademarks you can go to apply online under apply online are a bunch of different categories for forms now if you're just filing for the first time you're going to be doing the initial application form but there's also all the other forms are accessible here so if you need to respond to something from the trademark office file your intent to use forms which i will talk about later change your address any of that kind of stuff you can find those forms here so you're gonna go to initial application forms now with the united states patented trademark office there's one online application system but you have two different categories of filings one is the plus and the other is the standard there's a number of differences between them but the biggest difference besides one of them being less expensive than the other is that with the plus you have to select from a list of classes and with the standard you can make up your own class or description of your products and services i highly recommend that if it's at all possible you select the plus not just to save money but because if you are picking your class from a list of classes you're going to have formatted it correctly and also will make it much faster and easier for them to approve your application the only time we really use this standard is if what my client is doing we just can't find anything on the list that is even remotely applicable or we're applying the united states basing it upon a foreign application from another country and their descriptions are so different we want to use their descriptions here in this filing to the extent possible there are also additional statements that are required in the plus application that you must make at the time of application the ones that typically come up the most are the name of a living person or that your trademark includes reference to a specific geographic area so i can file a trademark with my name in it however i have to give permission to myself to file that application so this is something to be aware of if you're doing a plus application this list also applies to you not just the class selection so let's say we're ready to apply so we're going to start the application the next thing you're going to need to do is to log in if you don't have a login and email for the uspto.gov then you can create one otherwise you need to log in with you log with an email address a password they also have a second level of authentication the next screen you come to is the beginning of the application there is a video that you can watch i recommend doing that because it's always great to get more information and this is a dynamic application so when you select things it will change what the next questions are also be aware that if you have inactivity it will log you out you can save your session though and come back to it later and that's what this is about if you save your session then you have to upload a file to create it back in so here i'm going to pretend that i'm not an attorney filing the application i'm going to pretend that i'm doing this myself and i'm gonna pretend i'm doing a t e t e a s plus application so the first screen is who is the owner of this trademark now if you are a sole proprietorship then or you're filing as an individual inventor then it will be you but if you have an llc or a corporation it'll probably belong to that business instead of you personally so let's say my i have a llc called potsfeinstein llc and that's going to be the owner of the mark then i click limited liability company for the entity type and it's going to change what some of these questions are so it will take a minute to load now i have to select what state it's in or if it's not in the u.s then you select this sometimes i run into an issue where someone has a business that's from another country and so they so their entities are have different names but the trademark office does have places for you to put that information to now we're going to put the mailing address main street this is a made up address well it might actually exist but that's not my address okay now domicile address this is something that's very important for anybody who is using their mailing address that's not your physical location you have to have a physical location address in here this physical location address will not appear on the publicly available database so you don't have to worry about that from a privacy perspective but you have to have an address so they know that you're physically located here in the united states if you are not physically located here in the united states then you're gonna have to have an attorney who's located here to represent you i don't necessarily think that rule is fair but that's just the rule so let's assume that this is actually my physical location you can put in a phone number and fax number you don't have to put in a phone number but sometimes the trademark examiner will call you because you messed up something your application that is relatively straightforward to fix so if you don't put a phone number in here there's nobody they can call they might email you but some examiners are not into email otherwise they'll have to issue an office action which is a lot more complicated so i'm going to put in an email address this is my business email address you can also put in the website for your business i recommend doing this so when they do a search and you come up for your own trademark they know that it's you so i'm gonna put in my website address then i hit continue it's going to look at everything i filled out and give me information about things that i missed or i messed up in the filing so it tells me that i did not enter a telephone number i'm just going to skip it for right now but generally i'd recommend putting in one it does not get listed publicly so you don't have to worry about that now i can finally put in my trademark so i'm going to use the trademark that we talked about in one of the other videos which is irene whoops i on the trail this is a person who has a business about hiking irene is not this person's name irene they're using as an abstract concept now here's special standard characters special form sound mark those are the different kinds of trademarks so a special form a lot of times would be a logo i'm not going to go into sound marks that's fairly rare for someone to do but th

Thanks Harry your participation is very much appreciated
- Raleigh Storment

About the author

Raleigh Storment

I've studied palaeoclimatology at Columbia International University in Columbia and I am an expert in computer engineering (outline). I usually feel nerdy. My previous job was publications editor I held this position for 9 years, I love talking about marching band and trivia nights. Huge fan of Niall Horan I practice sailing and collect match-related items.