To trademark a logo, you file an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the class or classes of goods or services the logo identifies, pay $350 per class, and wait roughly 10 to 18 months for examination, publication, and registration.1United States Patent and Trademark Office. How Long Does It Take to Register Before you file, two things need to be settled: you have to actually own the design, and you have to know whether a confusingly similar mark is already out there. Skip either step and you’re likely to lose your filing fee, your registration, or both.
Confirm You Own the Logo First
If a freelance designer created your logo, you probably don’t own it yet. Under copyright law, the person who creates artwork owns the copyright by default. Paying the invoice does not transfer ownership. You can’t meaningfully hold a trademark on a logo whose underlying design belongs to someone else, so this has to be fixed before anything else.
There are two ways to get ownership. If the designer is your W-2 employee and created the logo as part of their regular job, the “work made for hire” doctrine gives you the copyright automatically. Courts look at factors like whether you provided the tools, set the working hours, and controlled how the work was done.2U.S. Copyright Office. Works Made for Hire
For an independent contractor, work-for-hire almost never applies to a standalone logo. The Copyright Act limits work-for-hire commissions to nine specific categories such as contributions to collective works, translations, compilations, and instructional texts, and a logo does not clearly fit any of them.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 101 – Definitions The reliable path is a written copyright assignment signed by the designer, transferring ownership to you. Federal law requires copyright transfers to be in writing and signed by the party giving up the rights.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 17 USC 204 – Execution of Transfers of Copyright Ownership An email saying “it’s yours” won’t hold up. Get the signed assignment before you spend money on trademark filing.
Search for Conflicts Before You File
The USPTO filing fee is not refundable. If an examining attorney finds your logo is confusingly similar to a registered mark in your class of goods or services, your application gets refused and your money is gone. Search first.
Use the USPTO’s online trademark search tool, which replaced the retired TESS system in November 2023.5United States Patent and Trademark Office. Retiring TESS – What to Know About the New Trademark Search System It lets you search by word, by design search codes, and by textual descriptions of design elements. For logos, you’ll need to work with the USPTO’s design code system, because the tool does not do reverse image searching.6United States Patent and Trademark Office. Design Search Codes
Don’t stop at the federal database. A business using a similar logo without federal registration still has common law rights in the geographic area where it operates, and that can complicate your application or restrict where you can do business. Check state trademark databases and run general internet searches for the same visual and verbal elements you’re planning to register.
Pick What You’re Registering and Where It’s Protected
The USPTO recognizes two kinds of drawings, and the choice shapes what you actually own. A standard character mark protects text in any font, size, style, or color, and gives the broadest text protection when the business name itself is what matters. A design mark, sometimes called a special form drawing, protects the specific visual appearance you submit, including stylized lettering, graphics, and color.7United States Patent and Trademark Office. Drawing of Your Trademark
If your logo combines a distinctive word with a distinctive graphic, many trademark attorneys recommend filing two applications so the word and the design each get independent protection. Each application covers one trademark, so multiple logo variations require multiple filings.8United States Patent and Trademark Office. Drawings and Specimens as Application Requirements
Choosing Classes
Every application has to specify at least one class from the Nice Classification system, which divides commercial activity into 45 categories. Classes 1 through 34 cover goods; Classes 35 through 45 cover services.9United States Patent and Trademark Office. Nice Agreement Current Edition Version – General Remarks Your logo is only protected in the classes where it’s registered. A clothing brand that also offers personal styling would need to file in two different classes to cover both.
Each additional class adds another $350 to your fee.10United States Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark Fee Information The USPTO’s Trademark ID Manual has pre-approved descriptions; using them keeps costs down. Writing your own free-form description adds $200 per class to the base fee.
File the Application
Applications go through the USPTO’s online filing system. You’ll need the logo image, a description of the goods or services, your legal name and address, and the base fee of $350 per class.10United States Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark Fee Information Before submitting, decide which basis you’re filing under.
Already Using the Logo
If your logo is already in commerce, file under Section 1(a) and include a specimen that shows how consumers actually encounter the logo when they buy from you. For goods, acceptable specimens include photos of the logo on the product, its packaging, labels, or tags, or a screenshot of a webpage where the product is sold showing the logo near a purchase button. For services, advertising materials showing the logo in connection with the services work.11United States Patent and Trademark Office. Specimens The specimen must show real use in real commerce, not a mockup, printer’s proof, or digitally altered image.
Not Using It Yet
If you plan to use the logo but haven’t launched, file an intent-to-use application under Section 1(b). This locks in your priority date. After the USPTO approves the application and issues a Notice of Allowance, you have six months to file a Statement of Use with a specimen and a $150-per-class fee proving you’ve begun using the logo in commerce.12United States Patent and Trademark Office. Statement of Use Minimum Filing Requirements Extensions run $125 per class and can push the deadline out to a total of 36 months from the Notice of Allowance.10United States Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark Fee Information
What Happens After You File
A USPTO examining attorney reviews the application for legal compliance, distinctiveness, and conflicts with existing registrations. If the attorney finds a problem, you’ll receive an Office Action explaining the objection or requesting information. Respond within the stated window or the application is abandoned.
Distinctiveness is one of the things the examiner looks at. Marks that invent a word (like EXXON) or use a real word unrelated to the product (like APPLE for computers) get the strongest protection. Marks that directly describe the goods or services generally can’t be registered unless consumers have already come to associate them with your specific brand. Generic terms can never be registered. For logos, a distinctive design can carry a mark that plain words might not.
If the application clears examination, the logo is published in the USPTO’s weekly online Trademark Official Gazette. That opens a 30-day window for anyone who thinks your registration would harm them to file an opposition.13United States Patent and Trademark Office. Approval for Publication An opposition sends the case to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board for what amounts to a mini-trial. If no one opposes, or you prevail, the USPTO issues your registration certificate.
The USPTO says the full process usually takes 12 to 18 months. The average as of early 2026 is closer to 10 months when nothing goes wrong.14United States Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark Processing Wait Times Office Actions, oppositions, and intent-to-use extensions can add substantially to that.
Using ™ and ® Correctly
You can use the ™ symbol (for goods) or ℠ symbol (for services) at any time to signal that you claim rights in a logo, whether or not you’ve registered. No permission needed. These symbols don’t carry the legal weight of a federal registration, but they put competitors on notice.
The ® symbol is different. Federal law limits it to marks already registered with the USPTO. Do not use it while your application is pending. Deliberate misuse can be treated as fraud and can jeopardize your ability to register or enforce the mark.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1111 – Notice of Registration
Once you’re registered, displaying ® is not legally required, but there’s a cost to leaving it off. Without registration notice, you can’t recover profits or damages from an infringer unless you prove they had actual knowledge of your registration. The symbol puts the world on constructive notice and eliminates that burden.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1111 – Notice of Registration
Keep the Registration Alive
Registration is not permanent unless you maintain it. Miss a deadline and the USPTO cancels the registration regardless of how much you’ve built around the brand.
Between Years Five and Six
File a Declaration of Use (or Excusable Nonuse) under Section 8, along with a specimen showing continued use in commerce. The fee is $325 per class. A six-month grace period is available with an additional $100-per-class surcharge. Miss the grace period and the registration is canceled.16United States Patent and Trademark Office. Registration Maintenance, Renewal, Correction Forms
Between Years Nine and Ten, and Every Ten Years After
File a combined Declaration of Use and Renewal Application under Sections 8 and 9. The fee is $650 per class, with the same six-month grace period and per-class surcharge.10United States Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark Fee Information As long as you keep filing and the logo stays in commercial use, the registration can last indefinitely.
Optional: File for Incontestability
After five consecutive years of continuous use following registration, you can file a Section 15 Declaration of Incontestability. This shields certain aspects of your registration, including the mark’s validity, from third-party challenge. To qualify, there must be no pending legal proceedings involving the trademark and no adverse court decisions against your ownership.17GovInfo. 15 USC 1065 – Incontestability of Right to Use Mark The fee is $250 per class.18United States Patent and Trademark Office. Definitions for Maintaining a Trademark Registration It’s optional, but for a modest fee it’s one of the most useful long-term protections available.
Monitor and Enforce Your Trademark
The USPTO does not police the marketplace. Enforcement is the owner’s job. A mark that goes unenforced can weaken over time and, in the worst case, become generic and lose protection entirely.
Ongoing monitoring means searching the internet, social media, online marketplaces, and new trademark filings for logos that look confusingly similar to yours. Professional watch services can automate scanning of the USPTO database and international registries; cost and scope vary widely.
When you find a likely infringer, the usual first step is a cease-and-desist letter citing your registered rights and demanding they stop. Many disputes end there. If they don’t, you can file an opposition or cancellation proceeding before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, or bring an infringement lawsuit in federal court. Federal registration is what gives you standing to sue, which is one of the core reasons to register in the first place.19United States Patent and Trademark Office. Why Register Your Trademark Keep your contact information current with the USPTO and promptly record any ownership changes so you don’t miss critical communications.20United States Patent and Trademark Office. Post-Registration Timeline for All Registrations Except Those Under Section 66(a)