Trademarks are used to define and ensure that a product or service is the property of a certain business. To prevent people from being misled about who is offering the goods or services, they set the branded product apart from all others.
What Is The Validity Of A Trademark?
Unlike patents and copyrights, a federal trademark does not lose its validity after a certain time. If the trademark is used by its owner, it will remain. Trademark ownership becomes valid once the trademark is used in commerce to identify the source of a good or service.
Nevertheless, using the mark alone is insufficient. Five years following registration, the trademark holder must present proof that the trademark is still being used. The owner must submit a Section 8 statement to prove that the trademark is still active and being used.
What Is The Price Of A Trademark?
It filing fees are between $225 and $400 to file an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for each class of protected goods or services. The cost varies based on the USPTO application type, depending on how much data the registrant provides.
How Long Would It Take To Receive A Trademark?
You can submit the federal trademark registration application after you are convinced that your mark is prepared for filing and does not overlap with any already-registered marks. Most likely, the full procedure will take a year or longer..
Firstly, trademark federal registration applicants should wait approximately nine to ten months before the USPTO reviews their application.
After an examination by an attorney, the application will proceed to the publishing stage if the reviewing attorney finds no possible conflicts.
The trademark is then officially disclosed for a 30-day wait period, during which any third party can protest. In the absence of any opposition, the USPTO will proceed to certify the registration. Most likely, this will take an additional two to three months.
Charges For Keeping Your Trademark Active
The price range for keeping your federal trademark registration is $1550 to $2,250. A trademark application is a multi-step procedure. First, you can retain your trademark by proving that your company is still using the trademark concerning the categories you selected when you first applied for it.
The regular trademark filings you must submit, together with the associated filing fees, are as follows:
| Timeline | Filing Fee |
| Between the fifth and sixth year after registration | $125 |
| Between the ninth and tenth year after registration | $425 |
| Declaration of Incontestability(Optional) | $200 |
If you gave your email address and approved email communication in your first trademark application, you will get email notifications from the USPTO before these dates.
The Price Of Hiring A Federal Trademark Attorney
Most small company owners decide to work with a trademark attorney due to the difficulty of the federal trademark registration process. The fees associated with trademarking a company name will go up even though hiring a lawyer has numerous advantages and requires less of your time.
Federal trademark attorneys often impose a single fee for simple trademark research and filing. They can bill an hourly rate to reply to official activities or resistance. Depending on the trademark and location, you should allocate between $2000 and $4,000 for a first trademark search and application.
What Is Trademark Infringement?
As a trademark owner, you must know the differences between the various types of trademark infringement. The trademark owner would need to do the following to prevail in a lawsuit for trademark infringement:
- Show that a legitimate mark protects their company logo, slogan, packaging design, or industrial design.
- Show that a potential customer will likely confuse the infringed trademark with their trademark.
The Bottom Line
A registered trademark is a piece of intellectual property that allows the owner to prevent other parties from using the same or similar trademark to identify their own goods or services.. Your services and goods should have more brand value due to using a trademark, which should help improve brand awareness.
Using the federal trademark registration process, you can increase your company’s total worth, reputation, and image in the market.
