Every person who is venturing into the business world or a startup has to get its trademark registered. Getting a trademark registered for your company name has to be one of the most essential parts of building a brand. You can register a trademark for your company name and step into the world of owning a business. The real question is how to register a trademark? Here is a quick guide:
US patent and trademark office
A trademark can be registered without a lawyer help under 90 minutes on the US patent and trademark office’s website. Still, before that, you have to check that the name you’re choosing is available and hasn’t already been trademarked by another company. You can do this by simply checking the trademark electronic search system or ‘TESS’ database to make sure that no other company with the same goods and services field as you has registered that trademark beforehand. Online registration through the US patent and trademark office costs about $275 to $325. The website requires basic information for the registration of the trademark such as the field of goods and services, the first use of the mark in commerce and whether you need a design component for the mark you’re registering for. The US patent and trademark office usually tends to take about six months to respond to your online registration application.
Private attorney’s help
In some cases seeking legal advice by attorneys makes total sense and is actually encouraged because it can do no harm in any way it will only make your work for you a hundred times better. If your mark is similar in any way to another company’s, an experienced Trademark Attorney can help you get out of this dilemma as your registration application may be contested.
Process of registration
- The first and at most important question asked is whether your product or service is eligible for registration or not. How can you figure this out? Well, that’s easy. You can check if your mark is in use for commerce. That means it must lawfully regulate. For goods, the mark should be visible on the product, and for services, the mark should be displayed while advertising.
- The next step is to decide what kind of trademark you want to get registered. There are two choices that you can choose from.
- The registration process is different for both standard and special trademark. The third step is to completely understand how your choice affects your overall application and requirements.
- Do a detailed researched on TESS to make sure no one else has the same trademark similar to yours.
- You need to classify your goods and services in the application which cannot be expanded after submitting the application.
- You must be familiar with the filing basis and specify in your application what kind of filing you are using and fulfil the requirements
- The last but not the least step would be choosing your application form. It has two options TEA S plus or standard. The cost for each application is different than the other. After filling the form, you can pay through your credit card or use an online money transferring method of your choice.
