What is a Trademark Attorney?

Trademark and Service Mark Registration Application Steps

For trademarks and service marks, we offer our 4 steps to trademark: [1] the clearance search and common law searches, [2] writing the registration application, [3] submitting the registration application, and [4] responding to examiner office actions (letters). Importantly, one does not register a trademark at the USPTO, rather you apply to register a trademark at the USPTO. In the U.S. you may have some common law trademark protection for the marks you use to identify your goods and services in your state, but in order to have rights across all of the U.S. states and the ability to sue in the federal courts you will need to apply to register your mark at the USPTO.

We offer quoted services for trademark registration applications in client engagement letters. Our fees are per application and are reduced for multiple applications filed for the same business or entrepreneur at the same time. We do offer a 25% discount on our fees for veterans and their dependents. The USPTO assess a filing fee per class of use for each application. The USPTO filing fee per class is either $250 or $350 for each class claimed in each application depending on the kind of application filed and the reason for filing. Contact us to discuss your trademarking options. All communications are confidential and privileged. Read about costs to trademark.

You can Register a Trademark in the U.S. and Countries all over the World

You can register your trademark in the U.S. and in countries all over the world, but you must be using the mark to identify your goods and services and you must not be infringing on the registered trademarks of anyone else. As mentioned above, you do not register your trademark at the USPTO, you apply to register your trademark at the USPTO and if it is approved the USPTO will register your trademark. Our first of 4 steps to trademark is the clearance search and common law searches that check to see if anyone else is using the mark you are applying to register. Searching before applying is best done by an experienced trademark lawyer.

Trademarks and service marks are intellectual property protecting business names, brand names, logos, slogans, or other distinctive sights, smells, or sounds used to identify your products and services. Trademark registration is territorial. In other words, trademarks are issued and protect by individual countries around the world. For many businesses, trademarking in the country in which they are located is sufficient. For some U.S. businesses federal U.S. trademark registration is not needed for businesses properly registered with their state because common law provides some legal protection. If, however, your business sells its goods and services in several countries you may want to seek trademark protection in all countries where your goods and services are sold.

U.S. Businesses First Apply to Register Trademarks at the USPTO

There is international trademark registration available using the Madrid System at the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO). But, for American-based businesses, international trademarking is started by filing a registration application at the USPTO. The same is true in other countries. After a national application is filed (basic application) or issued (basic registration), the Madrid Protocol offers a single international application to seek or get protection for the mark in other countries. Read more about the Madrid Protocol at the USPTO.

Applying to register a trademark for a business name, brand name, logo, slogan, or other distinctive sight, smell, or sound that you have been and are using to identify your goods and services really is less complicated than it might appear or seem. If you have been using the mark, and it does not infringe you (or your team) may very well be able to register your own trademark. Our team created and uses our 4 steps to trademark because they work. In fact, our inventor clients and their teams use our four steps to apply to register their own marks all the time from what we hear. It is an application that you can complete successfully on your own.

If you start a trademark registration application on your own and get a letter (office action) from the examining attorney at the USPTO and you need help responding, a trademark attorney can step in and help write and file a response for you. We offer help with writing and filing responses to office actions from the USPTO in trademark registration applications, even if you started the application to register your trademark yourself.

Trademark Attorney Help with Registration Applications

For all types and kinds of trademarks, Carson Patents offers US trademark attorney services online. An owner can apply to register a trademark for business names, brand names, logos, slogans, or other distinctive sights, smells, or sounds that they are using without infringement to identify their goods and services. If your business is just starting out, you may still be able to apply to register a trademark for future use if the goods and services are to be sold soon. Read about business name branding. Also, you can read about trademarked brands that became so well known that the trademark became the name used for the thing generically, in our article on genericization.

A separate trademark or service mark registration application is required for each mark. In other words, if you want to trademark a business name and the logo with the business name, that would be two applications for trademark registration. The first application is for the words of the business name and is usually a standard character mark kind of application in order to have the most flexible use options. The second application is for the logo image (with or without the business name thereon) and is usually a special form mark kind of application to protect an image.

Free Trademark Consultation with an Intellectual Property Attorney

We highly recommend consulting a trademark attorney when branding your business and applying to register trademark and service marks. Trademarking help for registering all types and kinds of trademarks and service marks from a trademark attorney is available online with us from anywhere. Please feel free to schedule a free trademark attorney consultation online by video meeting or voice call. 

Free Consultation Scheduling Detail for Appointment with our Attorney

The appointment times available are those available on our trademark attorney’s active daily working calendar. While this provides assurances that our trademark attorney will be available for the scheduled meeting time, it also means that the times open each day are different and change frequently. Appointments scheduled using our free trademark consult links are actively available and our attorney will meet with you on the day at the time you select. If you are checking for a particular day and time, consider contacting us by call, text, or email to request a specific day and time.