Your company and product names are among the first things you build value in. We check whether a name is safe to use, file with the USPTO, and handle the follow-up through registration and beyond. If the search turns up a conflict, you hear it before you print anything.
At a glance
- Practice
- IP
- Pricing
- Flat fee, quoted before we start
- Included
- 6 deliverables
- Process
- 3 steps, one named attorney
- Where we work
- Slack, email or a call
When founders call us
The moments that usually bring a company to us for this work.
- 01
You are choosing a company or product name and want to avoid a rebrand later
- 02
You are buying a domain and about to announce a launch
- 03
You received a cease-and-desist or an opposition over your name
- 04
Your registration is approaching its five-to-six-year maintenance window
What you get
Scoped in writing before we start. One flat fee for all of it.
- Knockout search of USPTO records for identical and confusingly similar marks
- Fuller clearance review covering state records, common-law use and domains where needed
- Written risk view on the name and recommended classes of goods and services
- USPTO application, use-based or intent-to-use, with identification of goods and services
- Responses to USPTO office actions and post-filing deadlines
- Statement of use, maintenance and renewal filings when they come due
How it works
- 1
Name and use review
We confirm how and where you use the name and what you sell under it.
- 2
Search and opinion
We search for conflicts and give you a plain read on risk before you commit.
- 3
File and monitor
We file with the USPTO, respond to examiner issues and track every deadline through registration.
Mistakes we help you avoid
The ones we see most often, and catch before they cost you.
- Avoided
Picking a descriptive name the USPTO will refuse to register on the main register
- Avoided
Launching before a search and later learning an earlier user has stronger rights in the name
- Avoided
Describing goods and services too broadly or too narrowly in the application
- Avoided
Missing the Section 8 declaration between years five and six, which cancels the registration
Trademark Clearance & Registration: questions founders ask
Start with a clearance search to check for conflicting marks. Then file an application with the USPTO identifying the goods and services you offer under the name, based either on current use or a bona fide intent to use. An examiner reviews it, and you may need to respond to an office action before it is approved.
Yes. An intent-to-use application reserves your filing date before you start selling. Registration will not issue until you file a statement of use showing the mark in commerce, and there are deadlines and extension fees along the way.
Not by itself. A state entity filing only reserves the legal name in that state's records. Trademark rights come from use in commerce and are strengthened by federal registration, which is a separate process.
A US registration can last indefinitely as long as the mark stays in use and you make the required filings. You file a declaration of use between the fifth and sixth year, then renew every ten years. Missing these filings cancels the registration.
Get a flat-fee quote for Trademark Clearance & Registration.
A short call with an attorney. You leave with a written scope and one fixed price.
Book a call