How to File a Claim for Trademark Protection

Filing a claim for trademark protection ensures your trademarks receive legal protection from infringement.

Trademark law protects names, logos, and other symbols used to identify one product and distinguish it from other, similar products. Filing a claim for trademark protection, also known as "registering" a trademark, is a key step to ensuring your rights in your product's or service's name or logo receives legal protection.

Instructions

How to Register a Trademark

1. Determine whether trademark protection is the right kind of intellectual property protection for your situation. Trademarks protect names, logos, and symbols used in business to help customers identify and distinguish between products--in short, a trademark is a brand name (or logo).

   If you are seeking protection for a useful item, business method, or product design, you may need a patent rather than a trademark. Likewise, if you are seeking protection for a substantial creative work, you may want to consider filing a copyright claim.

2. Search the trademark database to make sure no one has registered the same or a similar mark. Visit the website of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and click on the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) database. TESS allows you to search the entirety of existing trademarks to determine whether the name and mark you want to register is already taken.

3. Gather the following information:

   1.) The name of the owner of the mark.
   2.) A name and address at which you will receive mail from the USPTO.
   3.) A clear drawing of the mark. If it is a business name, print clearly.
   4.) The basis for filing the mark. You may only choose "use in commerce" if the mark is currently being used in commerce (i.e., on products or services you are currently selling). Otherwise, choose "intent to use," "foreign registration," or "extension of protection for international registration." These three only require a bona fide intent to use the mark in U.S. commerce.
   4.) A listing of the goods and/or services offered under the mark. List as many as you reasonably believe you will be using the mark under. After an application is filed, the classes of goods and services can be limited, but not expanded.
   5.) The filing fee for at least one class of goods or services. If you register a mark for multiple classes of goods and services, you may pay for them as well. If you do not, the USPTO will bill you for any remaining classes.

4. File an application online using the USPTO's Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS). The online application offers several advantages, such as automatically checking to ensure all required information is entered and an immediate response from the USPTO with a serial number and summary of the application.

   While the USPTO greatly prefers that applications be sent via TEAS, the office will also accept paper applications. To obtain a printed form, call the USPTO's automated phone line at 800-786-9199. Mail the printed form to:

   Commissioner for Trademarks
   P.O. Box 1451
   Alexandria, VA 22313-1451

5. Review your serial number and receipt when they arrive from the USPTO. These documents indicate the USPTO has received your application. They do not mean the application was complete or that it will be granted.

   If you filed online via TEAS, the serial number and receipt will arrive by email. If you filed on paper, the serial number and receipt will arrive in the mail.

6. Cooperate with the trademark examiner. On a first review, your mark might be rejected for a number of reasons. These include an incomplete application, existence of a conflicting mark, a deceptively misdescriptive mark, or a mark that is primarily a geographical name, surname, or ornamental.

   Promptly provide whatever information the examiner requests. If you do not provide information promptly, the USPTO may conclude that you have lost interest or abandoned your intent to use the mark, and may close your application.

Tips & Warnings

• You don't need an attorney to file a claim for trademark protection. However, you may wish to consult a trademark attorney regarding whether you need trademark protection and which mark is most likely to receive protection from the USPTO. If you hire an attorney to file your application, you may ask the USPTO to communicate with your attorney rather than with you directly.

References

• US Patent and Trademark Office: Where Do I Start?
• US Patent and Trademark Office: Basic Facts About Trademarks
• FindLaw: Registering a Trademark

Resources

• US Patent and Trademark Office: Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS)