Trademarks

Federal Trademark Registration Application - Attorney’s Fees - $850.  Total cost including Attorney’s Fees and typical costs - $1075 - $1300.  

• There are necessary filing fees with the USPTO, which depend on the application, which predominately include a fee of $225 for each class of good or service, which the trademark identifies. Therefore the total cost to the client will usually be between $1075 - $1300 for a trademark with one or two classes of goods or services.  The preparation of the federal trademark registration application includes a “knock out” search for other identical word marks registered with the USPTO. 

Attorney Trademark Searching In Addition to a “Knock Out” Search - Attorney’s Fees - $1,800.  

• A “knockout” search will show if the exact same word mark was already granted by the USPTO. A “knockout” search will not include the various ways that someone may challenge a trademark such as: a similar common law trademark; or a phonetically similar trademark (e.g. funny gumball, funn-E gumball, funnie gumball). As part of attorney trademark searching in addition to a “knock out” search, the law firm will provide a written report of the search results for other possible similar trademarks (words or graphics) which may be found on the USPTO database (TESS) and common law trademarks through an internet search. It should be expected that this is not a full search and the effectiveness may not be complete, and there is a significant chance another similar trademark may not be found—this is especially true for a graphics search.

Attorney Interpretation of an Outside Company Trademark Search – Attorney’s Fees - $1,600. Total cost including Attorney’s Fees and typical costs - $2,400 - $3,600.

• Outside company searches can cost between $800 - $2,000 depending on the type of search. Therefore, for the combination of the attorney interpretation and the cost of the search, the final cost to the client will usually be between $2,400 and $3,600. The outside search can be ordered from an outside company with specialized software/databases (e.g. Corsearch or CompuMark), which can include searches for word marks or graphic marks in the USPTO database (TESS), state trademark databases, common law trademarks, business name databases, and social media. The price of the outside searches varies on whether the search is for a word mark or graphic search and on the number of classes of goods/services searched. The outside company search result is usually about 200 pages in length showing examples of other trademarks found that maybe considered similar to the applicant’s trademark. The law firm will provide a written report analyzing the search results that the outside company provides. The combination of the ordered outside company search and written report by the law firm should be considered more comprehensive than the attorney trademark searching in addition to a “knock out” search option above (which does not include specialized software/database access)—but it is very possible something may be missed, where another similar trademark may not be found.

Attorney Guidance and Interpretation of an Outside Premium Branding Company Search and Market Research Report – Attorney’s Fees - $215 per hour. Total cost including Attorney’s Fees and typical costs - $15,000 and up.

• Outside premium branding company results can cost $15,000 and up. Therefore, the overall cost will be $15,000 plus the attorney’s fees for the hours performed on the project. The outside premium branding company (example: Brand Institute) will perform multiple services depending on the name: (a) screen many (up to approximately 75) possible names and recommend the best options (a top 20 list); (b) interpret regulatory/safety risk for a name (example: a pharmaceutical name); (c) screen names for meanings and confusion based on many (up to approximately 40) other languages; and (d) other similarity/likelihood of confusion searching globally.  

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or graphics, which identifies the origin of goods or services. This identification allows others to determine the source of the goods or services—stated another way, what company/organization is providing that good or service. 

Examples of a trademark include:

- Word or Words: a business name or a product name

- Graphics: a logo for a business

For example, a company would name their denim jeans so consumers know that if they see that name identifying denim jeans at different times, the consumer knows the denim jeans are coming from the same place—their company and not another company. The denim jeans’ name is a trademark. If the denim jeans are sold in multiple states, then the company can register the trademark—the denim jeans’ name—with the federal government to obtain certain additional rights for their trademark. 

The company, in the example above, has the option of registering or not registering the trademark—the denim jeans’ name—with the federal government. If the trademark is not registered with the federal government, the trademark will still have some protection against someone else using the trademark under what is called “common law” rights. But, if the company registers the trademark with the federal government, the company gains the following advantages: 

(1) the company puts people on notice that their company is claiming the right to use that trademark in association with denim jeans; and 

(2) if there is a dispute later, it is presumed that the company owns the trademark and the company has the exclusive right to use that trademark for denim jeans for all of the United States. 

Practically, these advantages help the company protect their trademark. By giving notice to others—by filing the trademark with the federal government—the company has reduced the chances that another company will inadvertently pick the same name to identify denim jeans, which will reduce potential disputes for the company in the future and also preserve the uniqueness of their trademark. Additionally, if there is a challenge by another company—which says their common law trademark has priority over the company’s federally registered trademark—the company has the legal presumption that the company has exclusive and nationwide rights to the federally registered trademark. This legal presumption increases the odds that the challenge to the company’s federally registered trademark will not be successful.

These added benefits of registering one’s trademark with the federal government—as described in the example—are a strong incentive for many people to spend the extra time and money to register their trademark with the federal government. If a name is important to a company, then registering that name with the federal government is a logical step in preventing the company from losing the right to use that name for identifying their product or service. 

Your federal registration trademark application will include: (a) information about the owner of the trademark; (b) a description of the trademark; (c) description of the use of the trademark; (d) evidence of use of the trademark (example: a webpage printout, picture of a product label, etc.); and (e) other miscellaneous information.

Go to the Trademark Client Intake Questions Page (here), to view a list of questions which if answered, can serve as the specific information included in your federal registration trademark application.