How to Register a Trademark in the United States? [Full Guide]

Trademark registration in the United States is essential for both businesses and entrepreneurs to have the ideal conditions to market their goods and services in the United States legally.

Besides, such trading may be done through exportation or at a company’s headquarters on US soil. This is because registration gives the person concerned the security of not having the risk of having setbacks with other existing organizations, thereby eliminating the chance to deal with competition law issues.

It is also not worth anything that the way in which a trademark is registered in the United States tends to value its service and/or product, representing a relevant intangible asset independent of its segment.

The good news we have is that this process is considerably smooth and brief, ranging from six to eight months. All actions are performed at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO — https://www.uspto.gov/).

Taking these measures ensures national protection for your business by building a fundamental mechanism to combat piracy and extol original production in front of your target audience.

Do you want to find out how to register a trademark in the United States? So, this article was made primarily to answer your question, starting with a list of questions about this process. Come on?
Here are the most common questions about registering a trademark in the US:

1. What are the registration modalities?

You can make the trademark registration that is already being used (current use) or also the one you want to use (intent to use). This process may involve only the wordmark, only the logo or even the name and logo when characterizing a mixed mark.

2. Does registration generate trademark protection and guarantee reproduction rights?

It is important to emphasize that US trademark registration provides security for a term, slogan, logo, visual or a host of all these factors, which characterize and differentiate a good or service from other competitors in the same segment.

This means that the brand is considered as a visual identification of a product or service that is sought by a particular audience.

3. Does registration also bring security to your site?

The answer is negative on this topic. Trademark grants the benefit for the exploration and use of the trademark within the United States, in accordance with current measures. Regarding the autonomy of your website, domain name, this happens with a different registration on another platform for accredited websites.

4. When can the ®, ™ and SM signals be adopted by a business?

The sign for ® is adopted when the company has an approved-registration in use. Certain nations often use it to show that the trademark is nationally registered. Symbol ™ means Trademark and is entered in the commercial context when an organization chooses to identify as its own brand, and there is a request made, including may or may not have made the record straight.

SM has the definition of service mark and is intended for business situations to incorporate the mark of service with or without requesting a registration.

5. How much will it cost to register a trademark in the US?

The truth is that trademark registration in the United States is indispensable these days to act within the law and not have your business compromised by inspections and inspections if you wanted to expand your business to that country.

After all, one of the differentials of having a trademark is gaining credibility along with your consumer market.

This is because you are the owner of this business and the main responsible for its financial maintenance as well as success in its segment. Investors, trading partners, and even clients tend to place their trust in properly legalized businesses.

All because this concern with the rules in force in the country in question, that is, in the United States, means professionalism and high-level work. From there, you need to be aware not only of the importance but also of how much it costs to register your trademark in the US.

Therefore, the first action to achieve this status is to find out if there is no other endeavor, commodity, or service with the nomenclature or brand you need to adopt. Typically, this pre-scan should be around $ 250 to $ 500.

With respect to the entry and proceeding of the procedure, it is essential to complete the registration “Application for the Registration of a Trademark or Service Mark.” And then pass on all documentation to the USPTO – United States Patent and Trademark Office.

With your company’s trademark application in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, you will have the trademark registration that extends nationwide, which means that upon approval your trademark registration will be in effect nationwide.

US Required Amounts

But is this too expensive? The good news is that to get this record; you don’t have to make a huge investment. However, conditions vary depending on the registration model you require. This (registration fee – https://www.uspto.gov/trademark/fees-payment-information/overview-trademark-fees) is $ 225 to $ 400.

You have to be careful because initially, you will establish which categories fall into your venture. According to experts, the US trademark registration process can range from $ 1,000 to as much as $ 2,500 for fees if you have a specialist.

Because of this, it is necessary that you fill in the respective registration with the appropriate category for the development of your business. If you fail in this phase of registration, your registration request will be suspended and, unfortunately, all that has been invested will have been wasted. This is because the amounts paid up to this point will not be recovered.

Your business may well fit into more than one category. Therefore, it is vitally important that you carry out a very thorough and thorough review of all data placed in the document regarding your operations.
From there, you can put it in any classes you find interesting. Always be careful to enter only the right information.

When you complete the trademark registration, you will receive a receipt promptly. However, this receipt should not be considered as the response to your request. The definitive answer will come to you only after a few months. So be aware of the processing of your request with the USPTO.

All order progress may require up to six or eight months to complete. At the end of the said process, you will have to pay from $ 1,500 to $ 3,000 for the certificate issuance.

6. What reasons may lead to the refusal of a US trademark registration?

Registering a trademark in the United States also minimizes your chances of rejection. The big risk is starting the process of registering a trademark already registered. To check for problems, USPTO has a likelihood of confusion methods. This means if the brands are frictional and are likely to cause confusion for their consumers. Only this is not the only reason for possible refusal. Check out others below!

• Have only a surname or first name;
• Have a merely descriptive word with respect to the commodity or service in question;
• Descriptive information on the origin of the goods or provision of the service;
• Have a controversial or offensive word or phrase;
• Have a word or phrase in a foreign language that, when translated, becomes generic;
• Bear the name of a cinematographic or literary work
• A merely illustrative commodity or service, that is, is not used effectively.

7. What is the concept of brand conflict?

As mentioned earlier, there are a few reasons that may make your US trademark application difficult. However, you also need to get aware of the possibilities of brand conflict. This occurs when the writing or pronunciation of the brand resembles one already registered.

8. When is the brand very similar to an existing one?

The goods or services are requested and/or summarized in a way that raises certain questions for their potential customers, giving rise to the interpretation that it is something belonging to another company.
It is noteworthy that this similar can occur in visual, phonetic, or semantic character in the original language or from a translation. That is, any kind of similarity that gives your customer a question.

9. US trademark registration gives legal security since when?

If none of the questions presented in the previous topics are noted in your application on US territory, it is likely that everything will be made official within the usual time frame. However, the legal protection time in the United States is retroactive, starting to take effect from the time you filed for your USPTO registration.

10. What is the safest time for your brand?

When everything is officially done, you have a very comfortable protection period. Once you register a trademark in the United States correctly, your merchandise and/or service will be protected for a decade and may be renewed for equal periods.

However, there are a few issues that must be taken into account to keep this warranty intact. This is because both in the fifth and sixth years from the day of registration, you need to forward notification of the use of the trademark or justifiable communication of non-exploitation to the responsible entity in the US.

If your notification is successful and approved without any unforeseen events, your trademark will normally remain in effect for the next ten years from the time you obtain this registration. In the event of a negative, your request will be suspended.

It is very important that all precautions and time limits are strictly adhered to in order to maintain your right to exploit the trademark under US law without any objection commercially.

11. What are the advantages of acquiring trademark registration in the US?

The fact is that there are numerous benefits to achieving trademark registration in the United States. Obtaining this process defines something indispensable today in the business world: the presumption of legitimacy regarding its use.

This means that no one else can demand the exclusion of the commodity from the provision of a particular service. This legal certainty that you will not face unforeseen sales of your product or services gives you much greater stability for both investing and exploiting your brand in the short, medium, and long term.

It is important to emphasize that branding is something of great value to any business venture. The officialization of this register provides security and autonomy to use in whatever way you want this asset, raising even more value within its field.

In the end, the United States Customs should be notified of your trademark registration. Therefore, it checks the entry and exit of articles that may be using your brand irregularly.

Such a customs check is an essential element in combating the counterfeiting of your goods and undoubtedly preventing damage due to unauthorized copying.