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Forming an LLC puts a name on one state's register and nothing more. A trademark is something else: a federal right to a name or logo for particular goods or services, enforceable across the US and recognised by the major platforms. Founders often mix the two up until a competitor or a marketplace shows them the difference. Here's what a trademark is, what it costs, and the rule that surprises founders abroad.
A registered trademark gives its owner the exclusive right to use the mark, whether a word, a logo or both, for the goods and services it's registered for, anywhere in the US, and to stop others using a confusingly similar one. It's registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in one or more of 45 classes of goods and services. Amazon Brand Registry and other platforms check it when a seller claims a brand, and a buyer of your business will pay for it.
It doesn't cover the name outside its classes, so a software mark won't stop a clothing brand. A name that just describes the product is usually refused. A trademark isn't a domain, a company name or a copyright, which are all separate. And US trademark rights come from using the mark in commerce in the US, which for a company abroad means selling to US customers under it, though you can file before that on an intent-to-use basis.
Since 2019, the USPTO has required any applicant domiciled outside the US to be represented by an attorney licensed in a US state. For a company, domicile means its principal place of business, which for a company run from abroad is abroad, so the rule applies. An application filed without an attorney is refused. Trademark attorneys, and the flat-fee filing services built around them, typically charge from a few hundred dollars for a straightforward application.
| Figure | |
|---|---|
| USPTO filing fee | $350 per class. Add $200 a class if you write your own description of the goods instead of picking one from the USPTO's list, and $100 a class if the application is missing required details |
| Attorney or filing service | Usually from a few hundred dollars per application |
| First examination | Usually several months after filing |
| Registration | Often a year or more from filing, if nobody opposes it |
| Keeping it | A declaration of use between the 5th and 6th years, $325 a class, then a renewal every 10 years, $325 a class plus another declaration |
- Search the USPTO's database for identical and similar marks in your classes. A clearance search by an attorney is worth paying for.
- Choose a distinctive mark rather than a descriptive one: an invented or unrelated word, not "Fast Web Hosting".
- Pick your classes and descriptions from the USPTO's ID Manual: the goods and services you sell now and expect to sell within a few years. Each class adds a fee, and a description you write yourself costs more.
- Have an example of the mark in use ready, or file on an intent-to-use basis and show use later, with a statement of use at $150 a class.
Brand Registry accepts a registered trademark and, in most cases, a pending application, which is why sellers file early. The mark has to match the brand name on the products, and the trademark's owner has to enrol the brand. A Wyoming LLC that owns the mark and runs the seller account is the usual set-up.
Sources
Checked by Saais Patel against these official pages.
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