Trademark Registration Guide

A $20 founder's roadmap to clearing, filing, and protecting a brand. Covers what you are actually protecting, clearance searching beyond identical matches, describing goods and services in USPTO language, use in commerce versus intent to use, the realistic timeline, and the maintenance filings that keep a mark alive.

What is inside

• What a trademark actually protects, and how it differs from a copyright, a patent, and a company name registration.
• Clearance searching beyond identical matches — phonetic variants, related goods, state registers, and common-law use.
• Describing goods and services in USPTO language, including why using the pre-approved wording matters to your fee.
• Use in commerce versus intent to use, and what each basis requires of you.
• A realistic timeline, and what happens at each stage between filing and registration.
• The maintenance filings that keep a registration alive, and the deadlines that end one.

Who it is for

Founders and brand owners preparing to file, and anyone who has been quoted for trademark work and wants to understand what is actually involved before deciding.

Why it costs $20

It is seven pages and a checklist, written to be worked through rather than skimmed. Fully refundable within seven days.

What the process actually looks like end to end

• You clear the mark, then file, choosing a filing basis and describing the goods and services in one or more international classes.
• The application waits to be assigned to an examining attorney. This is the longest quiet period, and nothing you do speeds it up.
• Examination produces either approval or an office action. A refusal is not a rejection — it is the examiner raising issues that must be resolved, and the response deadline stated on the letter is strict.
• An approved application is published for opposition, giving third parties a window to object.
• If you filed based on use, registration follows. If you filed intent-to-use, you receive a Notice of Allowance and a Statement of Use is due within six months, with extensions available in six-month increments up to a limit.
• Then maintenance begins: Section 8 between years five and six, optional Section 15 at the same window, and Section 9 renewal from year nine. The guide covers each stage and what is required of you at it.

Frequently asked questions

Will this let me file without an attorney?

It will let you file better informed. Whether you should file alone depends on how crowded your name is and how much the brand is worth to you.

Do foreign applicants need an attorney?

Yes. Under 37 CFR 2.11, applicants whose domicile is outside the United States are required to be represented by a US-licensed attorney.