Trademark FAQs
Most frequent questions and answers
Plug and Law is not a law firm. None of the information on this website constitutes or is intended to construe legal advice. General information about the law is distinctly different from advice about how the law would apply to your specific scenario or situation.
Plug and Law’s customer service representatives aim to provide helpful answers to our valued customers; however, due to these restrictions, they are unable to answer questions about how the law would apply to your specific scenario or situation. If you need legal advice about your specific scenario or situation, please contact an attorney in your area.
Usage of the products, services, or information on this website, including but not limited to the “Trademark Bundle”, does not mean that your federal trademark application will be published or approved by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Additionally, there is no guarantee that usage of the products, services, or information on this website will result in a favorable verdict or outcome in any adversarial proceeding or communication regarding trademarks, nor does it guarantee that you have protection against another party’s common law rights to trademark ownership.
While Erika Kullberg (the founder of Plug and Law) is an attorney, she is not your attorney, and viewing this website and/or purchasing any product or service from this website does not establish any attorney-client relationship.
Put simply, trademarks are words, logos, phrases, or symbols that help consumers identify the source of a product or service.
An example of a trademark is McDonald’s Golden Arches. That “M” helps you identify McDonald’s as a source of McDonald’s restaurant services, hamburgers, and French fries.
A registered trademark provides protection from other companies infringing on your brand by using similar words or logos that might confuse consumers as to the source of your goods and services.
An example of trademark confusion is if another burger restaurant, not affiliated with McDonald’s, starts using a highly similar large golden M in advertisements. In that case, consumers might get confused into thinking they are entering an actual McDonald’s, when, in fact, they are in an entirely different restaurant owned by another company.
Registering trademarks helps to prevent this confusion so that consumers will only associate your trademarks with your products and services.
The trademark registration process time ranges from approximately six months to sometimes longer. Most applications are registered, however, between six and nine months.
Four to five months after you submit your application, the USPTO will review your application. At this point, most applicants will receive an Office Action, which means there is an additional issue or clarification required in order to process your application. You will have 6 months to respond to this Office Action. It is important to follow all deadlines and respond quickly to minimize the time frame.
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Fortunately, there is no expiration date to a federal trademark registration. However, in order to maintain your federal trademark registration, you must continue to use the trademark in business with your applied-for goods and/or services, and file the requisite renewal documents and fees at the USPTO.
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The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has a database of registered and pending federal trademarks. Plug and Law’s Trademark Bundle provides a basic direct hit search of this federal database. Specifically, this search will identify certain potential pending or registered trademarks that are confusingly similar to your trademark. Plug and Law will e-mail you directly if there are any direct hits.
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Yes, you can apply to register a slogan and business name as one trademark. When you register for one trademark that has a business name and a slogan, however, you are limited to receiving protection for the trademark showing both the business name and the slogan.
For instance, if I apply for the trademark JONATHAN’S COMPANY WE DIG FAST, I am applying for trademark protection that shows both the company name (JONATHAN’S COMPANY) and the slogan (WE DIG FAST).
However, if I want to full trademark protection to show just the company’s name on its own, or just the slogan on its own, I would apply for each of these trademarks separately. As such, in order to achieve flexible and broad trademark protection, many companies apply for the business name and slogan separately.
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It depends. The USPTO will consider whether the change to your trademark is a material alteration or a minor alteration. A material alteration changes the commercial impression of the trademark and will not be allowed. A minor alteration does not change the commercial impression of the trademark and will be allowed.
For instance, suppose you wanted to change the trademark ZULU’S T-SHIRTS for t-shirts in Class 25 to ZULU’S. The wording t-shirts is just the generic name of what you’re selling. As such, removing the t-shirts wording is a minor change, and would likely be allowed.
On the other hand, suppose you wanted to change the trademark YELLOW FLOWER for t-shirts in Class 25 to YELLOW TIGER. This change of wording changes the overall meaning of the mark. One trademark refers to a flower and the other trademark refers to an animal. As such, this change in wording would likely constitute a material alteration and would not be allowed.
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A standard character trademark is a trademark that can be displayed in any font, style, size, or color. Additionally, it means that the trademark does not have any design elements.
For instance, if you apply for the standard character trademark ZIMONA, the wording could be shown in any font style, size, or color. In other words, it could be displayed as large, green, and italicized, or it could be displayed as small, red, and bold.
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Yes, you can apply with no color claim in order to display your logo in any color. Specifically, in the Trademark Bundle questionnaire, be sure to choose Option A to the question “How do you want to be able to display your trademark?” This ensures that your logo can be displayed in any color.
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Applying for a federal trademark is an important business, legal, and strategic decision. Such decisions should not be taken lightly, and entrepreneurs and small business owners should think carefully about which trademarks they believe will provide long-term brand value.
That being said, we are not a law firm, and cannot provide counsel as to the specific protections of any particular trademark, or the scope of such protections.
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No. Federal trademark registration in the United States only provides federal trademark protection in the United States.
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Put simply, service marks are words, logos, phrases, or symbols that help consumers identify the source of a service. Service marks are not used in reference to goods or products.
On the other hand, trademarks refer to words, logos, phrases or designs that help consumers identify the source of a product. However, it is commonly accepted that trademarks identify sources of products or services.
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There are five types of trademarks.
Trademarks fall into one of five categories: Generic, Descriptive, Suggestive, Fanciful, and Arbitrary.
The first category to consider is generic trademarks. Suppose a consumer is selling candy bars, and wants his trademark to be CANDY BARS. This won’t be acceptable as a trademark because CANDY BARS is just the commonly understood name of what the consumer is selling.
The reason generic trademarks can never be registered has to do with the purpose of trademarks. We register trademarks to prevent other companies from profiting off of your hard-earned brand. It wouldn’t make sense to allow people to register for generic trademarks because everyone in the candy bar industry needs to be able to use words, like candy bars, in advertising materials.
The second category is descriptive trademarks. Descriptive trademarks describe an ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose, or use of what a consumer is selling. Suppose a consumer is selling candy bars, and wants her trademark to be SUGAR. This would be a descriptive mark, because sugar is an ingredient in candy bars. These are unlikely to get registered on the Principal Register because they merely describe what that consumer is selling.
The third category is suggestive trademarks. Suggestive marks hint at what you’re selling, but don’t actually describe what you’re selling.
Another way to think of this is the trademark takes some imagination for consumers to understand what you’re selling. An example of a suggestive trademark for candy is ALMOND JOY. These words hint at what you might be selling, like candy bars, but it takes some imagination to get there.
The fourth category is arbitrary trademarks. This is a trademark that may have a common understanding for another product or service, but doesn’t relate to what you’re selling. An example of an arbitrary mark is BOAT for selling candy bars. BOAT would be generic if you’re selling boats, but has no meaning in relation to candy bars.
Finally, the fifth category is fanciful trademarks. The best way to think about these trademarks is that they have no meaning. An example of this would be KAMAKI for chocolate bars. Since KAMAKI is a made-up word and has no meaning in any language, it is considered fanciful. And, because fanciful trademarks are so unique, they are entitled to the strongest level of protection against possible infringers.
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Registering for a federal trademark helps to protect your brand from trademark infringement. For instance, by successfully registering for a federal trademark, you will be able to sue in federal court for trademark infringement. Additionally, a federally registered trademark provides you with broad trademark protection across the entire United States.
While companies can use a trademark without filing for a federally registered trademark, the trademark protection will be narrow. For instance, the trademark protection would be limited to the geographic location of your business. Additionally, you will not be able to sue in federal court for trademark infringement.
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There are many benefits for companies and entrepreneurs to federally registering a trademark.
First, trademarks add incredible brand value to companies.
Forbes recently valued the Apple brand at $205.5 billion dollars. The estimated brand value of McDonald’s is $130 billion dollars.
Trademarks are intangible Intellectual Property assets that give some companies billions of dollars of brand value. And they represent the bulk of a small company’s brand value as well.
When entrepreneurs and small business owners are ready to make this next step in securing federal trademarks, it is important for them to protect their brand value through federal trademark registration.
Second, a federally registered trademark allows broad national protection across all 50 states.
Third, a federally registered trademark allows trademark owners to sue in federal court if they believe that their trademarks are being infringed upon by a competitor.
It also lets entrepreneurs send a cease and desist letter to potential trademark infringers. This cease and desist letter would specify that the trademark owner has the federal rights to the trademark.
Fourth, registering for a federal trademark prevents the headache of potentially having to rebrand a company.
The last thing a company or entrepreneur wants is to spend a lot of money building a brand, only to find out another company already has a very similar registered federal trademark. Entrepreneurs certainly do not want to be on the receiving end of a cease and desist letter – or worse, a lawsuit – from a competitor.
Fifth, a federally registered trademark simply gives peace of mind. It signals to others that entrepreneurs are serious about their businesses, and shows that they are ready for the next step in their professional success.
After successfully registering for a federal trademark, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will even send an official federal trademark registration certificate.
Sixth, by receiving a federal trademark registration, entrepreneurs can use the restricted symbol with their trademarks. This makes it clear to everyone that the entrepreneur has a federally registered trademark.
Registering for a federal trademark adds a lot of credibility and legitimacy to brands.
Trademarks are a necessary step for entrepreneurs and businesses that are serious about taking their businesses to the next level. It is an important business, personal, and legal decision that provides many benefits for companies.
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There are five considerations every business owner should consider when making the decision to register a trademark.
First, you should register for a federal trademark when you want to protect the good will of your brand.
Small business owners spend hard-earned money building a brand.
By registering your trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, you can protect your company’s good will from potential infringers. Specifically, you can bring a lawsuit for trademark infringement in federal court. Or, you can send a cease and desist letter, indicating that you have the federal rights to your trademark.
By not protecting themselves with a federal trademark, you risk other companies using a trademark that is identical or highly similar to yours. In certain instances, other companies may argue that you are infringing on their trademark rights, especially if they file for a federal trademark before you do.
To avoid this scenario, federal trademark registration fortunately allows broad protection for your trademark across the entire United States.
Business owners and entrepreneurs should first consider whether there is a trademark – whether it be a company’s name, an expression, or even a logo – that they believe promotes (or will one day establish) brand value.
If you believe that a word or a logo does or will be important for brand value, you should strongly consider federal trademark protection.
Second, once you decide that you want a trademark, there are two specific ways to register your trademark:
(1) When you already are selling products or providing services with the trademark or
(2) When you intend to sell products or provide services with the trademark.
The first option means you’ve already begun using the trademark with your products or services. For instance, you may have already sold t-shirts or provided bakery services with that trademark.
The second option means you have a bona fide intent to sell a product or provide services with a trademark. This means you are making a sworn statement that you have a true intent to use this trademark to sell products or provide services with a trademark.
The third consideration is to file as soon as possible.
If you are already using your trademark or have a true intent to use that trademark, it is advisable to file as soon as possible. By waiting, you could potentially risk others scooping up that federal trademark registration from you in certain situations.
The fourth consideration is that you should file for trademark protection after conducting your due diligence.
You want to conduct due diligence before spending money on a federal registration. For instance, the USPTO has a database that lets you search for similar pending or registered trademarks.
By conducting due diligence, you will develop a better understanding of whether your mark will be published by the USPTO.
The fifth consideration is that you should file after making a business (and personal) decision.
Filing for a trademark is a business, legal, and personal decision. It involves weighing the potential legal and business risks of not filing for a trademark, and the impact of not doing so on your brand value.
Ultimately, you want to think a great deal about the brand of your business, and spend considerable thought on what names or logos you want associated with that brand.
Maybe you hire an artist to help you with a certain logo, or workshop names for a company with friends, family, and even focus groups.
Remember that this trademark is a long-term decision. You want to make sure you love this name or logo!
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First, trademarks are words, logos, phrases, or symbols that help consumers identify the source of a product or service. It protects the brand of your company.
Second, copyrights protect creative works in fixed forms, like movies or songs.
Third, patents protect inventions. There are two types of patents.
The first is a utility patent, which protects how something is used and works.
The second is a design patent, which protects how something looks.
An example of a consumer walking into McDonald’s can show the differences between a trademark, a copyright, and a patent.
For instance, that consumer will notice the big “M” outside the restaurant, and immediately identify those golden arches as the source of McDonald’s restaurant services. That “M” would be a trademark.
That consumer might order a Happy Meal, and his child will open a book about Ilsa from FROZEN. That book would be copyrighted material.
Then, that same consumer might order French fries and McDonald’s using a novel technology to make French fries in a specific way. That French fry machine could be patented.
As you can see, trademarks, copyrights, and patents are all around us!
Depending on a company’s specific business and legal needs, it might even be advisable to seek all three forms of Intellectual Property.
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Trademarks are words, logos, phrases, or symbols, that help consumers identify the source of a product or service.
Technically, however, trademarks refer to words, logos, phrases or designs that help consumers identify the source of a product. However, it is commonly accepted that trademarks identify sources of products or services.
Service marks, on the other hand, are logos, phrases, or symbols that help consumers identify the source of a service.
For example, suppose Doctor Jen opens a small dermatology practice. She could use a service mark of “DERMAPOWER” to describe her dermatology services. And, since it is commonly accepted that trademarks identify sources of products or services, she would also refer to “DERMAPOWER” as a trademark for her dermatology services.
Now, suppose Doctor Jen also sells skin care products. She could use a trademark of “DERMAPOWER” to describe these products. But she would not use a “service mark” in this case because she is only describing products – and is not describing services.
In summary, trademarks are commonly understood to refer to products or services. Service marks, however, refer to just services.
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Businesses often use the “TM” or “SM” symbol to let others know that they are using particular words, logos, phrases, or designs as a trademark or service mark.
“™” refers to a Trademark, and “SM” refers to a service mark. In other words, they are purposefully using these words, logos, phrases, or designs as a source-identifier of their goods or services.
The “TM” or “SM” symbol is often used when a company has applied for a federal trademark, but it has not yet registered. It provides notice to others that the company is using a trademark or service mark. Then, if the company successfully registered the trademark or service mark with the USPTO and receives federal trademark protection, the “TM” or “SM” will be replaced with a ®, which stands for a federally registered trademark.
Unlike the “TM” or “SM” symbol, the ® symbol allows consumers to know that the trademark is federally registered. The ® symbol means that the owner of the mark has all of the benefits of federal trademark protection, including legal presumption of the validity and ownership of the trademark or service mark, the exclusive right to use the trademark or service mark nationwide, and the ability to sue in federal court for trademark infringement.
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You can use the TM symbol to let others know that you are using particular words, logos, phrases, or designs as an unregistered trademark.
Often companies simply use the TM symbol when they have applied for a federal trademark, but have not yet received federal registration.
A TM symbol merely provides limited common law rights, which means that you might be able to retain narrow trademark protection in a limited geographic area.
However, only registered trademarks, indicated by an ® symbol, provide substantive legal protections, including legal presumption of the validity and ownership of your trademark, the exclusive right to use your trademark or service mark nationwide, and the ability to sue in federal court for trademark infringement.
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Yes, the TM symbol is used to let others know that you are using particular words, logos, phrases, or designs as an unregistered trademark or service mark.
It is quite common to use the TM symbol when you have applied for a federal trademark, but have not yet received federal registration.
If your trademark successfully registers, you can then use the ® symbol, which lets others know that you have the federal trademark rights to your trademark.
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No, you cannot use the ® symbol if your trademark is not registered.
Notably, it is considered fraud if your misuse of the registered symbol is found to be deliberate and intended to mislead the public or consumers as to your claim to have a federally registered trademark. Such misusage can be a basis for the USPTO to refuse your trademark application.
It is only when your federal trademark is registered that you can use the ® symbol.
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Many small business owners ask, Should I trademark my business name or logo first?
As a reminder, trademarks act as a source indicator of goods and services. Trademarks could be a business name, a design element, a logo, or, in some cases, even the shape of a bottle!
Let’s take Starbucks as an example.
STARBUCKS is the name of the business, and an important trademark for this billion-dollar company. But that’s not their only trademark. The green mermaid logo is also an incredibly strong source indicator of the Starbucks brand. When customers see the green mermaid logo, they immediately think of Starbucks.
A billion-dollar corporation like Starbucks, of course, has the resources to file for many trademarks. But that’s not the reality for most small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Deciding whether to trademark a business name or a logo first is an important business, legal, and strategic decision. One important question to ask is: If I only have the resources to file for one trademark, would the business name or logo be the better source indicator of my goods and services?
For many businesses, the business name is the stronger source indicator. Most small business owners want their business name to be strongly associated with their brand, and investing in a trademark for their business name is a smart decision. Then, when the company has additional resources, they will often file for additional trademarks, including logos.
For instance, let’s consider a small clothing company named XENLIN. The clothing company opens a small store, and puts XENLIN prominently on their storefront. The clothing company also sells shirts with a colorful flower logo. Ideally, the company would want to file for both trademarks: the business name and the logo. If that store owner only has the resources to file for one trademark, however, she should ask: Would the business name of XENLIN or the logo of the flower act as a stronger source indicator of the clothes?
In this case, the store owner might decide that she wants to first invest in the trademark for the business name XENLIN. At this point, the store owner decided that her primary goal is for customers to know the company’s name of XENLIN and tell other potential customers about the location of the store. Then, when the company has additional resources, the store owner can apply for the flower logo.
Applying for trademarks is an individual decision. Some companies may decide that the business name is more important to them than a logo, while others may decide the opposite. This decision is up to the business owner, and is based on a variety of business and strategy goals. One important question business owners should consider in this determination is whether the business name or the logo acts as a stronger source indicator of their goods and services.
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A disclaimer is a statement to the USPTO indicating that you do not claim exclusive rights to the unregistrable portion of your trademark
The USPTO requires a disclaimer when there is a word or a design in your trademark that describes an “ingredient, quality, characteristic, function, feature, purpose, or use” of your goods and services. The USPTO considers such wording or designs to be an unregistrable portion of the trademark.
Consider a company that registers for LULULA’s COTTON in Class 25 for t-shirts. The USPTO will require a disclaimer for the wording “COTTON” because t-shirts are commonly made of cotton. It is an ingredient or feature of the t-shirts. As such, you will provide a statement to the USPTO that you do not claim exclusive rights to “COTTON”.
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In order to register for a federally registered trademark, the USPTO will require a specimen, which is proof that you are selling products or providing services in connection with your trademark.
If you are filing your federal trademark application under a 1(a) basis, you will provide this proof with your initial application. If you are filing your federal trademark under a 1(b) basis, you will provide this proof at a later stage in the application process.
Some examples of acceptable specimens for products include showing the trademark on the product, the packaging of the products, or on an instruction manual. Some examples of acceptable specimens for services include advertisements, brochures, and web sites.
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The Supplemental Register is the secondary register of federal trademarks maintained by the USPTO.
There are many benefits to the Supplemental Register.
First, just like the Principal Register, you can use the registered trademark symbol.
Second, you can sue for trademark infringement in Federal Court.
Third, it will prevent other trademarks from being registered that are confusingly similar to your trademark.
However, the trademark protection afforded by the Supplemental Register is not as strong as the trademark protection afforded by the Principal Register.
For instance, unlike the Principal Register, there is no determination that your trademark is distinctive. Also, unlike the Principal Register, trademarks on the Supplemental Register are not presumed to be valid and enforceable.
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A federally registered trademark might be able to help you get or reclaim the Twitter handle for your trademark. In fact, Twitter’s policies prohibit people from using your federally registered trademark as a handle if it is being used to confuse consumers.
Specifically, the trademark policy states that “Using a company or business name, logo, or other trademark-protected materials in a manner that may mislead or confuse others with regard to its brand or business affiliation may be considered a trademark policy violation”.
For instance, suppose that a business is the owner of a federal trademark MAKARITAI for clothing, and there is someone using the Twitter Handle @MAKARITAI that is posting about clothes. In that case, it is pretty clear that this person is using this handle in a way that is going to confuse customers.
With a federally registered trademark, the federal trademark owner could then file a Trademark Issue Report with Twitter at
https://help.twitter.com/forms/trademark. You must have a federally registered trademark in order to file this report.
Businesses should keep in mind their goals for using Twitter, and how a federally registered trademark might be needed in order to thwart off potential squatters or infringers.
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One of the most common refusals for trademarks is a Section 2(d) Likelihood of Confusion – Refusal.
A Likelihood of Confusion refusal is issued when there is already a registered trademark that is confusingly similar to your trademark such that a consumer would get confused.
In order to establish a Likelihood of Confusion refusal, two criteria have to be met. First, the trademarks must be sufficiently similar. Second, the products or services of the trademarks must be sufficiently similar.
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After submitting your application, you may receive a request for an Examiner’s Amendment via email or phone call.
An Examiner’s Amendment means that there is a way to fix the outstanding issues on your application without you having to file a formal response.
If you respond by agreeing to the Examiner’s Amendment, either by email or phone call, the good news is your application should proceed straight towards publication.
If you do not respond promptly to an Examiner’s Amendment, the USPTO will issue an Office Action with the same issues. In that event, you’ll have to respond through the USPTO online system as opposed to just responding to an email or phone call.
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In a nutshell, the Trademark Bundle simplifies the federal trademark application submission process. Customers answer a few questions on our site–we make it easy and simple to answer the questions by providing helpful videos and visual examples. (Most customers finish in 10-15 minutes!) Once we’ve collected your information, we handle the paperwork at the USPTO for you: the Trademark Bundle includes e-filing your application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
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Most customers are able to submit applications on the platform in 10-15 minutes. The platform provides instructional videos and examples that guide them through this process.
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Once you complete the Trademark Bundle, the Plug and Law support team will contact you via email with your completed application. In this email, there will be a link that will take you to your completed USPTO application.
When providing an electronic signature, you must type your name between two forward slashes. For instance, in order to electronically sign the name John Smith, you would type in /John Smith/.
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This platform provides assistance in submitting a federal trademark application. We are not a law firm and cannot advise as to your specific trademark, or the protections of your trademark in the marketplace.
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