What you need to know about the trademark process

Before you invest your precious time and money in applying for a federal trademark, there are some very important things that you need to know. Here are three things you need to know about the trademark process.

#1 You need to know what you are doing.

The federal trademark process is one of the few processes that the government hires actual lawyers to handle. That’s right. When you apply for a federal trademark, your application will be scrutinized by a licensed practicing attorney. They are actually called examining attorneys. This is important because this means that they are well versed in trademark law and will require that your application meet very specific requirements according to federal law in order to be approved.

This is one of the reasons it is often beneficial to hire a law firm to file your application. Many online companies will simply allow you to input your own responses and they will file whatever you submit. The problem with this is that you may not be a lawyer – and may not know the legally correct response to give in order for your application to be approved.

At our firm, all of our trademark applications are filed by a licensed practicing attorney that is well-versed in trademark law. We have handled so many applications with the trademark office that we know many of the examining attorneys and understand their expectations.

#2 Filing the application is just the beginning.

Many online companies sell people on cheap packages promising to file their trademark application. The only problem is that filing the application is just the beginning. Remember the examining attorney we discussed in item #1 above? Well, that attorney is going to spend the next 6-12 months reviewing your application and potentially providing you with Office Actions that you need to respond to. An office action is a formal request from the trademark office that must be responded to within a very specific deadline or your application can be abandoned. You want to make sure that the company you hire includes legal representation after they file the application up until you receive a final ruling from the government. Our firm includes this additional 6-12 months of legal representation in all of our trademark filing packages.

#3 There are generally no refunds in the trademark process

Generally, the filing fees that you pay to the trademark office to register your federal trademark are non-refundable. This means that you need to make sure that you have 100% confidence in your understanding of the process (or the attorney or company you hired) so that you do not have to refile the application multiple times and keep having to repay the filing fee.

At our firm, we are proud of our 100% success rate with our federal trademarks. (Disclaimer: Past results do not determine future outcomes). We are proud to say that we have successfully registered trademarks for clients all over the world and stand behind our experience and reputation.

Get in touch!

If you would like to speak to a trademark attorney about registering your federal trademark, please contact us. Our consultations are always free. We would love to help you legally protect your brand!