Guide

How to register a trademark in the U.S., step by step

Eight steps, from checking the name to keeping the registration alive. For a name you already sell under, the whole thing typically takes about 7 months and $350 per class in USPTO fees. Each step links to a free tool that does it.

1. Check that the name is clear

Most refusals come from an earlier mark that looks, sounds or means the same for related goods, not from an exact copy. And the filing fee is not refunded if you are refused. Run the trademark check for similar names in your classes, and the logo search if you have a logo.

2. Pick your classes

Every application lists goods or services in one or more of the 45 Nice classes, and you pay per class. Coffee beans are class 30; serving coffee is class 43. The class recommender works it out from a plain description. Choosing the wording from the USPTO's ID Manual saves $200 per class.

3. Choose a filing basis

Use in commerce if you already sell under the name, or intent to use if you don't yet. Intent to use means proving use later ($150 per class), and it changes the odds: filed without an attorney, 64% of applications already in use registered, against 28% on intent to use. See the odds for your class.

4. File the application

File online in the USPTO's Trademark Center, with a USPTO.gov account that has passed identity verification. You need the owner's details, the mark (words, or a drawing for a logo), the goods and services by class, the basis, and for use in commerce a specimen showing the mark on what you sell. U.S.-based owners can file themselves; owners abroad must use a U.S. attorney (do you need one?). You get a serial number straight away.

5. Wait for the examiner

The first review currently comes about 4 months after filing (live processing times). Follow it with the status checker: the stage in plain English and what comes next.

6. Answer any Office Action

More than half of applications get one: an objection the examiner explains in writing. You have 3 months to reply, or 6 with one $125 extension. Most applicants who reply go on to register; most who fail simply never answered (the data). The Office Action deadline tracker emails you before it closes.

7. Publication

Once approved, the mark is published in the Official Gazette about 1 month later, and anyone who thinks they would be harmed has 30 days to oppose it. Most applications pass without one.

8. Registration, then keeping it

Already in use: the mark registers a few weeks after publication. Intent to use: you get a Notice of Allowance and have 6 months to start using the mark and file a Statement of Use, extendable in six-month steps up to three years. After registration, file a declaration of use between years 5 and 6, then renew every 10 years: trademark renewal.

Questions

General information, not legal advice. For a brand you are building a business on, a trademark attorney can run a full clearance search and handle the filing. Total costs: what a trademark costs.