Registrant Trademark Decision

Certificate of registration A decision on how to file

Registration no.
Issued by the USPTO, never by this site
Filing date
The day a complete application reaches the USPTO
Mark
Your name, logo or slogan, as customers actually see it
Registrant
You, or the business that owns the mark

The mark, as printed

Filing a federal trademark yourself, or through a service

A federal trademark application is a form you can file on your own. The hard parts are the choices inside it: how the mark is drawn, which goods and services it covers, and what proof of use goes with it. This site sets out what the USPTO application involves, where filings tend to go wrong, and what a trademark service actually takes on, so you can decide which route fits your mark.

Compare the two routes Walk the application

Article ITwo ways onto the register, and the advice that sits beside them

The USPTO accepts the same application whoever fills it in. Filing it yourself and paying a service differ in who makes the judgement calls, who watches the deadlines, and what happens when the examining attorney writes back.

  • Endorsement A

    Filing it yourself

    You prepare the application in the USPTO's online filing system, submit it, answer any letter the examining attorney sends, and keep track of every deadline that follows.

    • You write the description of goods and services, which can be narrowed later but never widened.
    • You decide whether to search for conflicting marks before filing, and how far to look.
    • You read any office action and answer it yourself within the deadline it sets.
    • Your cost is the USPTO's own fees and your time.

  • Endorsement B

    Using a trademark service

    A filing service turns your answers into a completed application and submits it for you, often with a search, status tracking or reminders sold alongside.

    • It prepares the form from what you tell it, so the description of your mark still starts with you.
    • A service that is not a law firm cannot advise you on whether the mark is likely to register.
    • Answering a substantive office action may cost extra, or may need an attorney.
    • You pay the service's fee on top of the USPTO's fees, which do not change.

  • Endorsement C

    Where an attorney comes in

    Neither route is the same as legal representation. A licensed trademark attorney can judge the risk in a mark, argue with an examining attorney, and handle an opposition.

    • Applicants domiciled outside the United States must be represented by a US-licensed attorney.
    • A mark that is close to an existing one, or largely descriptive, is where advice tends to pay for itself.
    • Some trademark services work with attorneys; others are filing services only. The difference matters.

Article IIThe application, entry by entry

Every route files the same application. These are its parts in the order the USPTO deals with them, with the place each one tends to go wrong and what a service usually does about it.

  1. Entry A

    Clearance search

    Checking that nobody already uses a confusingly similar mark for related goods or services. The USPTO does not do this for you before you file, and the filing fee is not refunded if the examining attorney finds a conflict afterwards. With a service: Many services sell a search as an add-on, and how far it looks varies from one to the next.

  2. Entry B

    The mark and its drawing

    A standard character drawing protects the words in any lettering; a special form drawing protects one particular design. Picking the wrong one is a common way to end up with a narrower registration than you meant to have. With a service: A service files whichever form you pick. The choice stays yours unless someone is giving legal advice.

  3. Entry C

    Goods, services and classes

    Each class is paid for separately, and the wording cannot be broadened after filing. Vague or overbroad descriptions are among the most frequent reasons for an office action. With a service: Services usually steer you toward wording from the USPTO's own ID Manual, which the office already accepts.

  4. Entry D

    Filing basis

    Use in commerce means the mark is already in use with the goods or services listed. Intent to use reserves it now, and a statement of use has to follow before it can register. With a service: A service files the basis you select and can track the statement of use deadline for you.

  5. Entry E

    Specimen of use

    Proof of the mark as customers meet it: a label, a package, a web page with a way to buy. Mockups and digitally altered images are refused. With a service: A service can check the specimen against the USPTO's rules before it goes in.

  6. Entry F

    Examination and office actions

    An examining attorney reviews the application and may send an office action, a letter setting out the problems and a deadline to answer. Missing that deadline abandons the application. With a service: Many services forward office actions; answering a substantive one often costs extra or needs an attorney.

  7. Entry G

    Publication for opposition

    An approved mark is published in the Official Gazette, and anyone who believes the registration would harm them has a set window to oppose it. With a service: Services commonly watch the status and tell you when the mark is published.

  8. Entry H

    Registration and upkeep

    Registration is not the end of the paperwork. Maintenance filings fall due at set points after the registration date, and missing one cancels the registration. With a service: Some services offer reminders or file the maintenance documents for an added fee.

Article IIIHow this site is organised

One question runs through every page here, and the pages follow the application in the order set out above.

Trademark Decision is about one choice: whether to file a federal trademark application yourself or to pay a trademark service to file it for you. The application is identical either way. What changes is who decides how the mark is described, who checks the specimen, and who answers when the examining attorney raises a problem.

Pages on filing it yourself work through each part of the application as the USPTO asks for it. Pages on trademark services describe what a service does at each of those steps, what it leaves to you, and where a licensed trademark attorney is the better fit for the mark in front of you.

Comparisons are made in words. Where a route or a service suits one kind of filer better than another, the page says why, and the official source for each rule is the USPTO itself.

The application is the same either way. The difference is who makes the calls inside it.

Article IVConditions of this certificate

The rules every page here is written to, whichever route it is about.

  • Condition one

    Nothing is graded

    Where one route suits a filer better than another, the reason is given in words. Nothing here is scored, starred or ranked.

  • Condition two

    The USPTO decides

    Only the USPTO registers a trademark. No site, service or attorney can promise that a mark will be approved.

  • Condition three

    Explanation, not advice

    This is plain-language explanation of a public process. For a question about your own mark, a licensed trademark attorney is the person to ask.

  • Condition four

    Prices show their source

    Government fees and service prices change. Where a page gives one, it says where it was read, so you can check it at the source.