At Brannon Sowers & Cracraft PC, we provide trademark solutions to protect and enhance your brand identity. We offer comprehensive support, including trademark searches, registration, and portfolio management, ensuring your marks are secure and enforceable. Our skilled attorneys guide you through the complexities of trademark law, from application drafting to opposition proceedings and infringement disputes. Whether you're a startup or an established business, we deliver tailored strategies to safeguard your brand's reputation and value in a competitive marketplace.
We offer a simple flat fee solution to obtaining federal trademark protection.
We charge a flat fee of $1350 to file a new trademark application in one class of goods or services. Each additional class is an additional $850. Most trademarks only require one class. This fee covers the government filing fee and our time for preparing and filing the trademark application and receiving and reporting common correspondence from the USPTO (including notices of publication, notices of allowance, and certificates of registration). It also includes a knockout search of the United States Patent and Trademark Office for any prior filed or registered trademarks that might be deemed similar to yours.
Do you need an attorney to register your trademark?
No. However, trademark registration involves legal analysis that goes well beyond filling out a form, including clearance searching, proper identification of goods and services, responding to office actions, and navigating potential refusals or oppositions. Errors or omissions can delay registration, lead to refusal, or weaken the long-term value of your mark. As experienced trademark attorneys, we help minimize those risks and position your application for the strongest possible protection.
What if I haven't started using my trademark yet?
You can still file a federal trademark application. The USPTO allows "intent-to-use" (ITU) applications when you have a bona fide (good-faith) intention to use the mark in commerce in the near future, even if you have not yet begun using it.
Filing an ITU application lets you establish an earlier priority date which is often a significant advantage if a conflict later arises. The application proceeds through examination in the same way as a use-based application. If the mark is approved, the USPTO issues a notice of allowance. At that point, you must begin actual use of the mark in commerce and file a statement of use before the registration can issue. You generally have six months from the notice of allowance to do so, with the option to request extensions up to a total of three years in most cases.
An ITU filing is a valuable tool for protecting a brand before lunch, as long as the intention to use is genuine.
If your mark is not yet in use, then a subsequent fees will be required to file a statement of use after the application has been allowed, or to file any necessary extensions.
How long will it take to register your trademark?
The timeline varies depending on the specifics of the application and the USPTO's current workload. As of recent USPTO data, the first examination by a USPTO examining attorney typically occurs about 4-5 months after filing, and the average time from filing to registration is roughly 10-11 months.
A straightforward use-based application with no office actions or third-party oppositions often reaches registration in approximately 8-12 months. Applications that receive an office action, require multiple rounds of responses, or face opposition generally take longer, often 12-18 months or more.
Intent-to-use application follow a similar examination timeline but add extra time after a notice of allowance is issued, because you must later submit a statement of use (or extensions) before registration can issue.
Contact us today to get started on your trademark registration.
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