How to Register a Trademark for Your Company’s Name or Logo

It’s a good idea to file for a trademark to protect your distinctive company name and logo. This is how.

Understanding how to trademark a name or logo may not have been high on your priority list when you started your business, but it is necessary if you want to protect your company’s name and logo. Thankfully, the procedure is straightforward. Assuming the USPTO website functions properly, it should take less than 90 minutes to complete the full application.

To begin, search the USPTO database, often known as the Trademark Electronic Search System, or TESS. You want to check whether anybody else has registered a company name or logo that is similar to yours. Keep in mind that you must look for both text and designs. If you don’t discover anything that matches, look for goods that are comparable. You must ensure that your company’s name or logo stands out from the crowd.

Once you get beyond this stage, you may submit your application online via the Trademark Electronic Application System. You’ll also need to pay the registration fee, which ranges between $250 and $350 depending on the kind of trademark and the nature of your firm. To complete the application, you must have the following information on hand:

Company name
To safeguard a name, logo, or design
Your name is
How will the name or logo be used?
It was formally utilized in business for the first time.
Business location

You should get a response within six months after submitting your application. If you are unable to acquire your name or emblem registered on the first attempt, investigate why. Most of the time, this is due to the design being too similar to another. Thankfully, you may re-register after sufficiently changing the company name or logo to satisfy the USPTO.