Guide
How to trademark a phrase or slogan
You can trademark a phrase if you use it as a brand: to show customers whose goods or services they are buying, not just as a message. You register it with the USPTO the same way as a name, for $350 per class. You cannot copyright a phrase.
When a phrase can be a trademark
A trademark identifies the source of goods or services. A phrase qualifies when customers see it as that kind of signal: NIKE's "Just Do It" and McDonald's "I'm Lovin' It" are registered trademarks because they are used, again and again, as brands. The test is how the phrase is used, not how clever it is.
Phrases the USPTO refuses
- Decoration. A phrase printed large across the front of a T-shirt, mug or poster is usually seen as ornament, not a brand. The same phrase on the neck label, hang tag or packaging can work.
- Common sayings and messages. Everyday expressions, widely used social or political slogans, and informational wording ("Drink responsibly") are refused because they do not point to one business.
- Descriptions. A phrase that only describes the product ("The Best Coffee in Town") is refused as merely descriptive or laudatory.
- Someone else's mark. A phrase that looks, sounds or means the same as an earlier mark for related goods or services is refused for likelihood of confusion.
Phrases do register less often. Of the 409,075 phrase applications filed from 2019 to 2022, 50.8% registered, against 67.4% of single-word applications, and only 39.2% of phrases filed for clothing. Part of the gap is who files: many single-word applications come from experienced high-volume filers.
How to check if a phrase is already trademarked
- Search the register for the wording, not just the exact phrase. Try it with and without small words ("the", "a"), in a different word order, singular and plural, and with likely misspellings. The trademark availability check does this for you and scores how close each match is; the U.S. trademark search shows every mark containing the words.
- Look at the status of each match. A live mark (pending or registered) can block you. A dead one (abandoned, cancelled or expired) usually does not, although its owner may still use the phrase and have rights from that use.
- Compare the goods and services. The same phrase can belong to different owners in unrelated fields. A match matters when it covers what you sell or something customers would connect with it.
- Search the web and the marketplaces. If the phrase is already printed on products by many sellers, the USPTO is likely to refuse it as a common message, and an earlier seller may have rights without a registration.
How to trademark a phrase, step by step
- Check it is free. Search the register for the phrase and similar wording in your classes with the trademark availability check, and search the web to see whether it is already a common saying.
- Pick your classes. The goods or services you use the phrase for: the class recommender picks them from a description, and the trademark classes list explains all 45.
- Use it as a brand. On labels, tags, packaging, or next to the buy button on your website; for services, in advertising and on signs for the service. This is the evidence (the specimen) the USPTO asks for.
- File the application in the USPTO Trademark Center, in standard characters so the wording is protected in any style. If you have not started using it yet, file on intent to use and prove use later.
- Answer any Office Action by its deadline. Phrase applications often draw one, for decoration or for being a common message.
More detail on each step: how to trademark a name (the process is the same).
What it costs
$350 per class in USPTO fees, the same as any trademark. Filing before you use the phrase adds $150 per class when you prove use, and $125 for each six-month extension if you need more time. The fee is not refunded if the application is refused. Full breakdown: how much it costs to trademark a name.
Can you copyright a phrase instead?
No. The U.S. Copyright Office does not register "words and short phrases, such as names, titles, and slogans", and says so "even if the word or short phrase is novel, distinctive, or lends itself to a play on words" (Circular 33, Works Not Protected by Copyright). Its list includes business and product names, catchphrases, mottos and slogans.
Copyright can protect a longer original work that contains the phrase, such as a poem, an article or a whole song, and original artwork in which the phrase appears. It protects the work or the artwork, never the words on their own. To own a phrase as a brand, the route is a trademark, which is where the Copyright Office's circular points too. More on the difference: trademark vs copyright.
Is it worth trademarking a phrase?
If the phrase is how customers know your product, or you sell merchandise under it, yes: a registration lets you stop copycats nationwide and use ®. If it is a passing tagline or a message you print on products, probably not, because it is unlikely to register and hard to enforce.
Questions
Can you trademark a phrase?
Yes, if you use it as a brand: to identify your goods or services, for example on labels, packaging or in advertising for your service. A phrase used only as a message or decoration, or one that many people already use, is refused.
How much does it cost to trademark a phrase?
The USPTO fee is $350 per class of goods or services, the same as for a name. Filing before you use the phrase adds $150 per class when you later prove use. An attorney typically adds $1,000 to $4,000.
Can you copyright a phrase?
No. Short phrases, slogans and titles cannot be copyrighted in the U.S., however original. A phrase can only be protected as a trademark.
Can I trademark a phrase for T-shirts?
Only if it works as a brand on the shirts, for example on the neck label or hang tag. A phrase printed large across the front is usually refused as decoration, and in our data only about four in ten phrase applications for clothing register.
Can I trademark a phrase someone else already uses?
Not if they registered a similar mark for related goods or services, and not if the phrase is so widely used that it no longer points to one business. Check the register and the web before you file.
How do I check if a phrase is trademarked?
Search the U.S. trademark register for the phrase and similar wording in your classes, and check whether the matches are live. Our free trademark search finds similar wording as well as exact matches.
General information, not legal advice. Whether a phrase can register depends on how it is used; for an important slogan, a trademark attorney can review your specimen before you file.