What are the steps to trademark a company?

You should really have an attorney help you. It is so easy to make simple mistakes that can ruin everything or cost you money you shouldn't spend. Many of those simple mistakes can't be fixed. See below for an overview of the trademark process: The trademark process can feel counter-intuitive. However, it secures your longest lasting intellectual property that can grow to be your largest single asset. The trademark process can last indefinitely because as long as you keep using your brand and keep your registration healthy, you own it potentially forever. Most of the work is in the first couple of years or so and it covers four different steps. The rest is just keeping your registration renewed and strengthened. Plan on spending between about $2,500 - $4,000 during this first part of the process and about $1,500 every five to ten years to keep the registration healthy. The first step is the due diligence step. While this step is optional, it can be critical to your success and can save you tens of thousands of dollars if not more. In this step you look around to see if your brand is something you can own. You should do some free looking yourself on the internet and in magazines, trade shows and etc. in your relevant market, first. Then have a professional search done. The search typically takes about two to three weeks to complete. As long as the search results look good, you can move to the next step. The second step is the application step, where we prepare and file a trademark application. This step usually takes anywhere from two to three weeks, on average. This is where we carefully describe you, your brand and your goods and services in just the right way to make your rights very clear. Once this step is complete, you have a pending trademark application and don?t have to worry about someone registering your brand after the filing. The third step is the negotiation step. Some trademark applications are initially rejected but I would say that more than half skip this step altogether. If the application is rejected we then have to convince the Examiner at the trademark office that they will not get into trouble by allowing your trademark. This step usually takes three to eighteen months and there is no guarantee that you will make it through. Sometimes the rejections are very simple to overcome and sometimes they are the start of a big struggle. Doing a search first helps you avoid the big struggle. But, if we successfully overcome the rejection, you will have your trademark and move on to the next step. The fourth and final step is the allowance and maintenance step. In this step there are certain requirements to obtain registration and keep it strong and healthy. If you have not already proven your use of your brand to the Trademark Office, this is when you will be required to do so. There is a fee to pay when you prove this use. Also, around five years and around ten years from obtaining your registration, there are renewals to file along with other filings that strengthen your rights. There are government fees that go along with these as well. After that, there are renewals to make every ten years. You cannot pay early and you cannot pay too late or you lose your rights, so it is critical to keep track of deadlines and keep in contact with your attorney so that nothing is missed. If you are able to go through all these steps successfully, you will have a trademark that lasts for as long as you are in business and that is a great asset to have.

The short answer, based on your remarks, is that you would be well advised to engage a trademark attorney rather than trying to do it yourself. Filing for registration is only the beginning of the trademark process. In fact, on the one hand it is not *necessary* to register a mark to gain legal rights; and on the other hand, registering a mark without more does not perfect any trademark rights.

It seems like you've gathered quite a lot of information and need to sort through it. First, the government fee for each class in which you would like to seek a trademark registration is $275. For this reason, it is a good idea to consult with a trademark attorney who can help choose the right class, or classes if appropriate, as well as the right description of the goods or services so that you get the biggest bang for your buck. Next, it is important to understand the difference between a word mark registration and a word plus design registration. Word mark registrations offer the broadest protection. Word plus design registrations narrow the protection significantly. Again, it is important to consult a trademark attorney, like those in TechLaw LLP, to make sure your trademark strategy is carefully tailored to your business objectives and budget. Last, the trademark office information is correct with respect to when you must file for international registrations if you want to maintain your original filing date. If you wait to file more than 6 months, then you lose your original priority date for any filings outside the US but can still file so long as no one else files in the interim on the same mark. Also, there are certain international treaties through which one can file their international trademark applications making these filings far more cost effective. While there are lots of cheap services available like trademarkia.com, we do not recommend using them without consulting an attorney with a good understanding of international jurisdictions.

Generally, it can be beneficial to first conduct a search of potentially conflicting marks and, if that is clear, file a trademark application. Your application should cover at least the classes of goods for your products that generate most of your sales. Also, there may be some benefit in filing one application for your logo and another application for the name. I'm surprised that the trademark office actually suggested a particular company or law firm to use. They usually want to remain neutral.

US trademark law does not allow registration of a business name or its slogan. A trademark is something (a graphic, design, color, sound, scent, or certain types of words) that consistently over time represent that a particular good or service is sold by a particular company. Your logo may fit into this category. Business names such as Xerox or slogans like Nike's Just do it! may become eligible for trademark status if over a period of years, consumers come to equate the name or slogan with the actual product (copiers and shoes). Yes, the logo for each category of products that you intend to sell has to be registered separately. Based on the information you have provided, you need to learn more about starting up a business before you attempt to register a trademark or amend your current application, much less file for an international trademark. Working with an intellectual property attorney is going to save you a lot of money both in the short and the long run because s/he knows what will be accepted for registration and what the USPTO will reject.