01
What is a trademark?
A trademark is anything that tells customers who a product or service comes from: a brand name, a logo, a slogan, and sometimes even packaging, a color, or a sound. When a shopper sees your name on a listing, the trademark is what lets them know the product is yours and not a copycat's.
Trademark rights are not rights in a word by itself. They are rights in a word for particular goods or services. That's why two unrelated businesses can sometimes share a name, and why every trademark question starts with two things: the name, and what you sell under it.
Not every name can be protected equally
Trademark law ranks names on a spectrum of distinctiveness. The more a name simply describes the product, the weaker it is, and the harder it is to register. The more creative and unexpected the name, the stronger the protection.
Marketing teams often like descriptive names because customers get the idea right away. The trade-off is that the USPTO usually won't register a merely descriptive name until it has become well known as a brand, which can take years of use. A suggestive name hints at the product without describing it, and is often the sweet spot between marketable and protectable.
™ versus ®
Things that don't give you trademark rights
Forming an LLC, buying the .com, and claiming the Instagram handle are all smart moves, but none of them is trademark protection. A state business filing lets you operate under a name; it doesn't stop anyone else from using or registering it. Domains and handles are addresses that platforms can reassign when a trademark owner complains. And a clean result on the USPTO's free search only means nobody has registered that exact spelling.
02
Use, registration, and intent to use
In the United States, trademark rights come from using a mark in business, not just from filing paperwork. The moment you start selling under a name, you begin to build what lawyers call common-law rights. The catch is that those rights are limited to the places where you actually do business and are known.
A federal registration changes the map. Once your registration issues, your rights extend across the entire country, and they date back to the day you filed your application. That filing date becomes your nationwide priority date.
Rights where you sell and are known. Someone across the country may be able to adopt the same name.
Nationwide rights, dating back to your filing date, plus a public record that warns others off.
You don't have to wait until launch
If you haven't started selling yet, you can still file. An intent-to-use application lets you lock in your filing date while you finish the product, the packaging, or the website. The USPTO examines it just like any other application. The difference comes at the end: before the mark registers, you show the USPTO proof that you're now using it.
After an intent-to-use application is approved and survives publication, the USPTO issues a Notice of Allowance. From that date you have six months to file a Statement of Use showing the mark in use, and you can request extensions in six-month steps, up to three years in total. We prepare the Statement of Use for a flat $50 plus the USPTO fee.
03
Why file sooner, not later
The USPTO generally works in filing order. When an examiner reviews an application, earlier-filed applications for similar names get priority, and later ones can be suspended or refused because of them. A few weeks of delay can be the difference between being the application that blocks a competitor and being the one that gets blocked.
Once registered, your rights reach back to your filing date across the whole country.
Your pending application can be cited against similar names filed after yours.
Amazon accepts a pending U.S. application, so you can enroll while you wait for registration.
Under an international treaty, you generally have six months to file in many other countries and keep your U.S. filing date.
Waiting also has a cost that founders feel most online. Once a brand starts selling well on Amazon or social media, it becomes visible to people who file other brands' names to take over marketplace listings. Your earlier use still matters, but proving it means a formal proceeding that can take months and real legal fees. Filing first is far cheaper than fighting later.
04
Why trademark applications get refused
A USPTO examining attorney reviews every application. When they find a problem, they issue an office action explaining why the mark can't register as filed. Some problems are paperwork that can be fixed. Others go to the heart of the name. These are the ones we see most.
1. Likelihood of confusion
The most common substantive refusal. The examiner asks whether consumers are likely to think your goods and an existing registrant's goods come from the same source. Two questions drive the answer: how similar the marks are in sight, sound, meaning, and overall impression, and how related the goods or services are. The marks don't have to be identical, and the products don't have to be the same.
2. Merely descriptive
A name that immediately describes a feature, ingredient, quality, or purpose of the product, such as "Fresh Roast" for coffee, is refused until it has become recognized as a brand. Misspellings don't help: "Kwik" is treated like "Quick."
The common name for the product itself. Never registrable, no matter how long you use it.
A name perceived mainly as a last name is treated like a descriptive term until it becomes known as a brand.
A place name that tells customers where the product comes from, like "Ohio Maple" for Ohio syrup.
A common phrase, slogan, or decoration that consumers wouldn't see as a brand at all.
The proof of use doesn't show the mark used with the goods the way the USPTO requires, such as a mockup instead of a real listing.
The list of goods or services is too vague or uses the wrong wording. Common and usually fixable, but it adds time.
You generally have three months to respond to an office action, with one three-month extension available for a fee. A good response can overcome many refusals. But every office action adds months to the process, and the best way to avoid them is to pick and clear the name before you file.
05
What a clearance search does
A clearance search answers one practical question before you spend money on a filing, packaging, and ads: can you safely use and register this name for what you sell? The free USPTO search is a good first look, but it only finds identical registered names. Most problems come from names that are close, not identical, or from businesses that never registered at all.
The result is not a list of hits. It's an attorney's judgment about how the USPTO and competitors are likely to react to your name, with options if the first choice is risky. That's also why checking two or three candidate names at once is often worth it: if your favorite has a problem, you already know which backup is clear.
Clearance reports start at $249, and the Clearance Bundle checks up to three names for $499. Compare packages.
06
The USPTO timeline
Trademark registration is not instant, but it is predictable. Here is what a typical U.S. application looks like today, measured from the day it's filed.
- Filing. You receive a serial number immediately. That number is enough to apply for Amazon Brand Registry.
- Waiting for examination. The application sits in a queue until it's assigned to an examining attorney, currently about 3 to 4 months on average.
- Examination. The examiner checks the name against existing marks and the rules above. A clean application is approved for publication. If there's a problem, you get an office action and the clock pauses while you respond.
- Publication. The approved mark is published in the USPTO's Official Gazette. For 30 days, anyone who believes they'd be harmed can oppose it. Most applications pass without opposition.
- Registration. If you've already shown use, the USPTO issues the registration certificate. For intent-to-use applications, a Notice of Allowance issues instead, and the mark registers after you file proof of use.
The biggest variable you control is the quality of the application. Good research before filing, a name that's been cleared, and a precise description of goods help avoid office actions, which are the most common cause of delay. Clean applications often register on the faster end of the range.
07
After registration
A trademark registration can last forever, as long as you keep using the mark and file maintenance documents on schedule. Missing a deadline cancels the registration, even for a well-known brand.
Start using ®
Show the mark is still in use
Declaration plus renewal
For as long as you use it
Registration also works best when you watch for copycats. A registered mark is the tool marketplaces like Amazon, Shopify, and Meta rely on when you report infringing listings, and our brand protection team uses it to take down knockoffs.
08
Frequently asked questions
What will the whole process cost?
With us: a Clearance Report ($249) or Clearance Bundle ($499), then filing for $399 within 60 days of your report, or $549 for filing alone. The USPTO charges $350 per class of goods or services on top of our fee. Office action responses and intent-to-use proof of use are quoted separately.
Should I register my name or my logo?
For most businesses the name comes first. A name registration (a "word mark") protects the name in any font, color, or design. A logo can be registered separately later if it's an important part of your brand.
Do I need to register in every state?
No. A federal registration covers all 50 states. State registrations are narrower and rarely needed if you register federally.
What are trademark classes?
The USPTO sorts all goods and services into 45 classes. Each class you file in carries its own USPTO fee. We confirm the right classes with you before filing so you're covered without paying for classes you don't need.
Does a U.S. registration protect me in other countries?
No. Trademark rights are country by country, and many countries award rights to whoever files first. If you sell or manufacture abroad, ask us about international filings.
Do I need a consultation before ordering?
No. Choose a package, complete one short form, and we take it from there. You can always call 216-200-6768 with questions.