How to Register a Trademark Name With the USPTO

To register a trademark name with the USPTO, you file an application through the agency’s online Trademark Center, pay a base fee of $350 per class of goods or services, and wait while an examining attorney reviews it. When nothing goes wrong, the process takes about 10 months from filing to registration, though office actions, oppositions, or intent-to-use requirements can stretch it considerably.¹ The steps below walk through what the USPTO expects at each stage, because filing fees are almost never refunded and every avoidable mistake costs another $350.

Search for Conflicts First

The single biggest reason applications fail is that someone else already owns a similar mark for related goods or services. Federal law bars registration of any mark that resembles an existing registration closely enough to confuse consumers about the source of a product.² Examiners don’t limit their comparison to exact matches. They evaluate whether two marks sound alike, look alike, or carry the same meaning, and whether the goods or services overlap enough that buyers might be confused.

Before you spend anything, run a thorough search in the USPTO’s Trademark Search database.³ Look beyond your exact name to phonetic equivalents, alternate spellings, and foreign-language translations. “Kwik Kleen” will conflict with “Quick Clean” in the same industry. A careful search takes hours but saves months.

Pick a Name the USPTO Will Accept

Even if no one else owns your proposed name, the USPTO can still refuse it based on the name itself. The law blocks registration of marks that are merely descriptive of the goods or services, primarily a surname, or primarily geographic in nature.² “Creamy” for yogurt or “Fast Delivery” for a shipping company tells consumers what the product does rather than who makes it, and the USPTO will reject it.⁴

Trademark strength runs on a spectrum. Generic terms (“Computer” for computers) can never be registered. Descriptive terms sit just above that and are registrable only if you can prove consumers already associate the name with your brand specifically, a high bar for a new business. Suggestive marks hint at a quality without directly describing it, as “Netflix” suggests internet movies, and these are registrable. Arbitrary marks use a real word in an unrelated context, like “Apple” for electronics. Fanciful marks are invented words like “Xerox.” The farther your name sits toward the fanciful end, the smoother your application will go.

If your preferred name is descriptive, the Supplemental Register is a fallback. Marks there get fewer legal benefits (no presumption of nationwide ownership, for instance), but registration still lets you use the ® symbol. After five years of continuous use, a descriptive mark that has gained consumer recognition can be moved to the Principal Register.

Choose Your Filing Basis

Every application must declare a filing basis, which tells the USPTO where you stand in the process of actually using the name in business.

Use in Commerce (Section 1(a)) applies when the name is already being used to sell goods or provide services across state lines, or in commerce Congress regulates. You submit a specimen (a real-world example showing the mark in use) along with the date you first used the mark anywhere and the date you first used it in qualifying commerce.⁵

Intent to Use (Section 1(b)) applies when you have a genuine plan to use the name commercially but haven’t launched. No specimen is needed at filing, but you’ll have to submit one before the USPTO issues a registration certificate.⁵ This path lets you lock in a priority date while you finalize branding or a launch, at the cost of extra steps and fees later. If you’re already selling, file under use in commerce.

What Counts as a Valid Specimen

Specimen rules trip up applicants because they differ for goods and services. For goods, the specimen must show the mark directly on the product: a label, packaging, a tag, or a webpage where customers can buy the item. Advertising alone does not work for goods. If you sell candles and your only evidence is an Instagram ad, the USPTO will reject it.⁶

For services, the rules flip. Advertising and promotional material are acceptable: a brochure, a website describing the service, a business sign at the location where you perform the work, even a vehicle wrap showing your mark. The specimen must clearly connect your mark to the specific services listed in the application.⁶ If you submit a webpage, make sure the printout includes the URL and the date you accessed it.

Gather What the Application Requires

Before you open the filing form, pull together every piece of information you’ll need. Stopping mid-application to track down an address or classification code is how errors happen.

Owner Information and Classes

You need the full legal name and physical address of the person or entity that will own the mark. A P.O. box won’t work for the domicile address.⁷ If a company will own the mark, use the entity’s legal name and formation state, not the founder’s name.

You also identify your goods or services using the international Nice Classification system, which divides everything into 45 classes: 34 for goods and 11 for services.⁸ A coffee shop selling branded mugs might need one class for restaurant services and another for the mugs, and each class costs a separate $350. Choosing the wrong class or forgetting one you need is an expensive mistake, because fees are not refundable.

Identity Verification

The USPTO requires every filer to verify their identity through ID.me before submitting a trademark application. It’s a one-time process tied to your USPTO.gov account.⁹ You’ll need a government-issued photo ID and a camera-equipped device. The self-service option asks for a selfie and your Social Security number; the alternative is a live video chat with an ID.me agent. Neither affects your credit score. Complete this step before you sit down to file.

Foreign Applicants Must Hire a U.S. Attorney

If you live outside the United States, you cannot file on your own. The USPTO requires every foreign-domiciled applicant to be represented by an attorney licensed to practice in the U.S., and that attorney must handle all submissions on your behalf.¹⁰ This applies to Canadians and to anyone filing through the Madrid Protocol.

File Through the Trademark Center and Pay

The Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), accessed through the USPTO’s Trademark Center, is the filing interface. As of January 2025, the USPTO eliminated the old distinction between TEAS Plus and TEAS Standard applications. There is now a single base application fee of $350 per class.¹¹ Applicants who select pre-approved descriptions from the USPTO’s ID Manual get a more streamlined process, but the fee doesn’t change.

After entering owner information, mark details (either a standard character mark or a stylized logo), goods and services descriptions, filing basis, and any required specimen, you reach the signature and payment section. The system accepts electronic signatures from the applicant or a qualified attorney. Payment goes through credit card or electronic funds transfer.

Once you click submit, the system generates a confirmation page and a serial number for tracking. Save both. That serial number is your reference for every future interaction with the USPTO on this mark.

Fees Are Almost Never Refundable

The USPTO does not refund trademark fees because your application was rejected or you changed your mind. Refunds are limited to narrow situations like duplicate payments or USPTO processing errors, and requests must be submitted within two years of payment.¹² Filing “by mistake” does not qualify. Every error that leads to rejection costs $350 per class with no recourse, which is why the clearance search and classification steps matter so much.

What Happens After You File

Expect to wait roughly four to five months before an examining attorney reviews your application. The current average for a first action is about 4.5 months.¹ Your application will appear in the Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) system during this period, but no substantive review happens until an examiner picks it up.

Office Actions

If the examining attorney identifies problems, such as a likelihood of confusion with an existing mark, a descriptiveness issue, a defective specimen, or missing information, they issue an office action. You have three months from the date specified in the office action to respond. You can request a single three-month extension for $125, but the examining attorney has no authority to grant more time beyond that.¹³ Miss the deadline entirely and your application is abandoned. No warnings, no grace period.

Office actions are where most applications either survive or die. A well-reasoned response that addresses every issue the examiner raised can overcome the refusal. A response that dodges the core problem or fixes only one of three issues will get you a final refusal. If you’re not comfortable writing legal arguments about likelihood of confusion or distinctiveness, this is where hiring a trademark attorney pays for itself.

Publication and Opposition

If the examining attorney approves your application (or you successfully respond to an office action), the mark is published in the USPTO’s Official Gazette.¹⁴ That opens a 30-day window during which anyone who believes your mark would damage their existing trademark rights can file an opposition.¹⁵ Opposers can also request extensions before filing, so the window can stretch in practice. If no one opposes, your application advances.

Registration or Notice of Allowance

What comes next depends on your filing basis. If you filed under use in commerce and your specimen was accepted, the USPTO issues a registration certificate. Your mark is federally registered, with a legal presumption of ownership and a right of priority that is nationwide in effect.¹⁶

If you filed under intent to use, the USPTO instead issues a Notice of Allowance. That is not a registration. It means your mark survived examination and opposition, but you still have to prove you’re actually using the name in commerce. You have six months from the Notice of Allowance date to file a Statement of Use along with a specimen and a fee of $150 per class.¹⁷ If your product or service still isn’t ready, you can request extensions in six-month increments, up to a maximum of 36 months from the Notice of Allowance date.¹⁸ Each extension carries a fee. Exhaust all 36 months without filing a Statement of Use and the application is abandoned.

Keep the Registration Alive

Registration is not a lifetime pass. The USPTO will cancel your mark if you don’t file maintenance documents on schedule, and the agency sends no reminders.

Between the fifth and sixth year after registration, you must file a Declaration of Use (a Section 8 declaration) proving the mark is still being used in commerce. The fee is $325 per class. Miss this window and your registration is cancelled.¹⁹

After that, you file a combined Declaration of Use and Application for Renewal (Sections 8 and 9 together) every 10 years. The combined fee is $650 per class.²⁰ Both filings must be made within the year before the deadline, though a six-month grace period is available with a late fee. Calendar these dates the day your registration certificate arrives. Forgetting a renewal is one of the most common ways businesses lose trademarks they spent years building.

1
USPTO. Trademark Processing Wait Times
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1052 – Trademarks Registrable on Principal Register
3
United States Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark Center
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United States Patent and Trademark Office. Possible Grounds for Refusal of a Mark
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1051 – Application for Registration; Verification
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USPTO. Specimens
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United States Patent and Trademark Office. Base Application Requirements
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USPTO. Nice Agreement Current Edition Version – General Remarks
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United States Patent and Trademark Office. Identity Verification for Trademark Filers
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United States Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark Rule Requires Foreign-Domiciled Applicants and Registrants to Have a U.S.-Licensed Attorney
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USPTO. Summary of 2025 Trademark Fee Changes
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United States Patent and Trademark Office. Refund Information
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United States Patent and Trademark Office. Response Time Period
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1062 – Publication
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1063 – Opposition to Registration
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1057 – Certificates of Registration
17
USPTO. Section 1(b) Timeline
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eCFR. 37 CFR 2.89 – Extensions of Time for Filing a Statement of Use
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USPTO. Post-Registration Timeline
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United States Patent and Trademark Office. USPTO Fee Schedule