Our Prime Select package is for those that have already commissioned a comprehensive trademark search and/or are highly confident that their mark will be accepted for registration by the USPTO. Our Prime Elite package is for those that want a U.S. Federal trademark search conducted to find marks that could affect their ability to obtain a Federal Trademark Registration. Our Prime Ultimate service package is for those that want a comprehensive trademark search conducted including U.S. Federal Trademarks, international trademarks and U.S. common law trademarks that may be found in social media, domain names and the Internet to gain better assurance that registration or use of their trademark is not likely to be opposed by a third party. The Prime Ultimate service package also provides peace of mind that a second trademark search may be requested at no additional cost if the first trademark is found to have a conflict and/or have a second trademark application filed at no additional cost (except for the USPTO filing fee) if the first trademark application is finally rejected by the USPTO.

By filing an intent-to-use (ITU) trademark application, you can include all goods that you intend to sell in the future. You can then later amend the application to delete any goods you end up not selling when the application has been allowed. If you wait and file a use based application, you can only include goods you have sold in commerce at the time of filing of the application and cannot add any goods to the application after filing. Plus, if you later want to add goods, you will need to file a completely new trademark application. The attorney’s fees to file multiple trademark applications are significantly more than for filing a single application even if that application includes multiple Classes of goods. In addition, multiple registrations necessarily multiplies the cost to renew and maintain the registrations.

It is typically better for your business to be the owner of the trademark application if it has been formed and is the source of the goods to your customers. If you have not formed a company but would like to proceed with the trademark application, you should identify yourself as the owner. You may later need to license or assign the mark to your new company once it becomes the source of the goods.

It’s important to select a strong trademark that is “inherently distinctive.“ A strong mark quickly and clearly identifies you as the source of your goods. The stronger your trademark, the more easily you can prevent others from using it without your permission. Strong trademarks are typically creative or unique, setting you apart from your competitors. Thus, strong trademarks are fanciful or arbitrary in nature (e.g., Google, Exxon, Nike, Coppertone). Weak trademarks, on the other hand, can be difficult to register and costly for you to defend because they often do not have the same legal protections as stronger trademarks. Weak trademarks are more descriptive or generic in nature (Work Shoes, Paper Goods, Big Boys Toys, Apple Pie Potpourri, Creamy Yogurt).

You can conduct a search for your goods via the USPTO ID Manual at https://idm-tmng.uspto.gov/id-master-list-public.html to find acceptable identifications for your goods. You should include all goods that you intend to sell over the next 12-18 months. We will then include an identification of goods in your trademark application to cover such goods.

After filing your trademark application, it is not possible to add goods that are outside of the scope of your identification of goods at filing. If your goods fall into more than one International Class at filing, you will be required to either limit the goods to a single Class or pay additional Class fees prior to registration. There is no additional initial cost when filing a single Class application that includes goods from multiple Classes.