Helpful trademark resources

Start here

Three free ways in, whether you have a name, need one, or have a question.

• Check my trademark for free: Type a name and see where it stands against U.S. trademark records in seconds. No account, no credit card.
• No name yet? Get name ideas: Describe what you sell and get screened candidates, each with its own clearance read.
• Ask the assistant: Quick questions, plain-English answers. General information, not legal advice.

Guides, a few minutes each

Written in plain English, checked against the USPTO's own pages, and dated so you know how fresh they are.

Trademark basics

What a trademark is, what it protects and when it matters.

• Do I need a trademark attorney?: When a U.S. trademark applicant must use an attorney, what an attorney changes, when filing yourself is reasonable, and how Trademarky's flat fee works.
• Word mark vs logo vs icon mark: Word marks, logos and icon marks explained: what each protects, which to file first, why a brand set is several applications, and when to claim color.
• Trademark classes explained: The 45 Nice classes the USPTO uses, what each covers, how to pick yours, what extra classes cost, and the pairs small businesses file most.
• Trademark vs copyright vs patent: which protects what: Trademarks, copyrights and patents compared: what each protects, which office grants it, how long it lasts, what it costs, and why an LLC is neither.
• TM versus ®: which symbol you may use, and when: TM, SM and ® explained: who may use each symbol, why ® is reserved for USPTO-registered marks, what misuse can cost, and where to place the symbol.
• Does a small business need a trademark?: What federal registration adds to the rights a small business already has, when filing becomes urgent, what a trademark does not do, and what it costs.
• Registering a business name is not a trademark: What an LLC name, a DBA, a domain and a social handle each protect, what none of them stops, and the order to do things in before you file.
• Trademarks for an online store: Which classes cover an online store's retail services and its own goods, why marketplace brand programs ask for a registration, and the specimen to use.
• Trademarks for an app or software: Class 9 for downloadable software, Class 42 for software used online, describing an app, app store listings as specimens, and the name versus the icon.
• Trademarks for a clothing brand: Class 25 and its neighbors, the ornamental refusal that hits a name printed across a shirt, labels and hang tags as specimens, and logo versus word mark.
• Trademarks for a restaurant, cafe or food brand: Class 43 for the restaurant, Classes 29 to 33 for packaged food and drink, signature dish names, place names, and menus, signage and labels as specimens.
• Trademarks for a podcast, channel or creator brand: Class 41 for a show, the single-work refusal versus a series, the show name versus your own name, show pages as specimens, and merch in Class 25 later.

Costs and fees

What registration costs, what the USPTO charges and what is refundable.

• How much does a trademark cost?: What a U.S. trademark costs: the $350 USPTO fee per class, attorney fees, the later filings that keep a registration alive, and what is refundable.
• Are trademark fees refundable?: Why USPTO fees stay paid after a refusal or withdrawal, the narrow cases the USPTO does refund, how to ask, and what an attorney fee guarantee covers.

The process

From the first search to the certificate, and what the USPTO does in between.

• How long does a trademark take?: A realistic U.S. trademark timeline: the wait for the first USPTO review, the 30-day publication, when the certificate arrives, and what slows it down.
• Trademark office actions: what they are and how to respond: What a USPTO office action is, the three-month response deadline, the most common refusals, how a response is prepared, and what happens if you miss it.
• Intent to use vs use in commerce: choosing your filing basis: Section 1(a) vs 1(b): what use in commerce means, when to file before launch, the Notice of Allowance, and Statement of Use fees and extensions.
• Trademark specimens: what the USPTO accepts and what it refuses: What a trademark specimen is, the difference between specimens for goods and services, examples the USPTO accepts and refuses, and how to prepare one.
• How to search for a trademark, and what a search misses: How to search USPTO trademark records yourself, how the USPTO compares marks, what a records search misses, and when to get an attorney's read.
• What each USPTO trademark status means: USPTO trademark statuses explained: pending, published for opposition, registered, abandoned, cancelled and expired, and what a dead mark means for you.

Protection

What a registration lets you do, and how to keep it.

• Trademark maintenance and renewal: keeping your registration alive: The Section 8, 9 and 15 filings that keep a U.S. trademark registration alive: when they are due, what the USPTO charges, grace periods and audits.
• BIMI and your registered logo: putting your brand in the inbox: How BIMI shows your logo next to your emails, why most Verified Mark Certificates require a registered logo trademark, and the steps to set it up.
• Likelihood of confusion, in plain English: How the USPTO decides two trademarks are confusingly similar: sound, appearance and meaning, related goods, and how to answer a Section 2(d) refusal.
• Protecting a name outside the United States: U.S. trademark rights stop at the border. How the Madrid Protocol extends a U.S. filing abroad, the six-month priority window, and when to think about it.
• The Supplemental Register, explained: What the Supplemental Register is for, what a registration there gives and does not, how a mark gets there, and how it moves to the Principal Register.
• Someone is using my trademark: what you can do: Real conflict or look-alike, what a registration changes, cease-and-desist letters, USPTO protests and oppositions, and when to call the attorney.

Naming

Choosing a name you can own, and what makes one strong.

• How to name a brand you can trademark: The distinctiveness spectrum in plain English, a naming checklist, how to screen a shortlist, the traps that get names refused, and domain checks.
• Merely descriptive: the refusal that catches good names: What a Section 2(e)(1) merely descriptive refusal means, where suggestive ends, acquired distinctiveness in outline, and how the attorney answers it.
• Can you trademark your own name? Personal names and surnames: The surname refusal under Section 2(e)(4), consent under Section 2(c), acquired distinctiveness under Section 2(f), and when a personal name works.

Eight things worth knowing first

The mistakes that cost founders time and money, and the habits that avoid them.

1. Search before you fall for a name: Filing without a search wastes the USPTO fee if a similar live mark already exists. The free check takes seconds.
2. File before you launch: Filing sets your priority date. Waiting lets someone else register a similar name first and forces a rebrand.
3. Pick a distinctive name: Descriptive names are hard to protect. A name that hints rather than describes is stronger and easier to register.
4. Cover the classes you sell in: Protection stops at the classes you file in. A product business usually needs its service side covered too.
5. A similar record is not an automatic no: Whether the other mark is live, what it covers and how strong it is all matter. Ask before you give up on a name.
6. Say what you sell in plain words: Classes follow from your goods and services. A clear description gets the right classes screened and filed.
7. Look beyond federal records: State registrations and unregistered names carry rights too. The attorney-led search covers them before you file.
8. Use TM now, ® only after registration: TM signals your claim from day one. The ® symbol is reserved for registered marks; using it early is unlawful.

The words, in a sentence each

47 trademark terms in plain English, from abandonment to word mark.

Trademark

A word, name, symbol, design or combination that identifies the source of goods and distinguishes them from others.

Nice class

One of the 45 categories of goods and services in the Nice Classification, the international system the USPTO uses.

Likelihood of confusion

The main test for whether two marks conflict: would ordinary customers be likely to think the goods or services come from the same source?

Office action

A letter from the examining attorney explaining a problem with an application, from a request to reword the goods to a refusal based on a similar earlier mark.

Specimen

Proof that the mark is in real use as filed: a label, tag or package for goods, or a web page, advertisement or sign for services.

Intent to use

A filing basis (Section 1(b)) for a mark you are not yet using but have a bona fide intent to use.

Use in commerce

Actual use of the mark in the ordinary course of trade, in commerce that the U.S. Congress can regulate: goods sold or shipped with the mark on them or their packaging, services rendered and advertised under it.

TM, SM and ®

TM (goods) and SM (services) mark an unregistered claim of rights and may be used by anyone at any time.

Trademark glossary

The FAQ, by topic

25 short answers about the free check, the process, costs, protection and timing.

• Free trademark check: 4 questions
• Trademark basics: 4 questions
• Registration process: 5 questions
• Costs and fees: 4 questions
• Trademark protection: 4 questions
• Timing and requirements: 4 questions

The assistant answers in plain English

General information to help you understand the process. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Trademark answers in plain English

Ready to see where your name stands?

The check is free and takes seconds. Then a free call with a licensed trademark attorney before you spend anything.

• Check my trademark for free
• Book a free attorney call

No account, no credit card, nothing filed until you say so.

Contact

Trademarky, LLC, 78 SW 7th St, 5th FL, Miami, FL 33130. (305) 562-6800, hello@trademarky.io. Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm ET. Available by appointment.

This free check is an AI-assisted preliminary screening against known U.S. trademark records. It is not a comprehensive clearance search and not legal advice. Only a licensed attorney can advise you on whether to file.