How to Apply for Federal Trademark Registration for a Business Name or Logo

File new applications through USPTO Trademark Center

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the federal agency responsible for registering trademarks in the United States.

Since January 18, 2025, Trademark Center is the USPTO system for filing new trademark applications, paying application-related fees and tracking applications filed through that system.

You must create a USPTO.gov account, use two-step authentication and complete mandatory identity verification before you can file through the trademark filing systems.

A company name or logo must function as a trademark

Federal registration protects trademarks used to identify and distinguish the source of goods or services. A business name may qualify when consumers encounter it as a trademark or service mark, but simply forming a company or registering a business name does not guarantee federal trademark registration.

A logo, design or stylized version of a name may also qualify if it meets federal trademark requirements.

The USPTO can refuse marks for several legal reasons, including likelihood of confusion with an earlier mark, genericness, descriptiveness in some circumstances, functionality and other statutory grounds.

Search for conflicts before paying the filing fee

The USPTO strongly recommends conducting a clearance search before applying.

Likelihood of confusion is one of the most common reasons registration is refused. Two trademarks do not need to be identical. They can conflict when they are sufficiently similar in sound, appearance, meaning or overall commercial impression and are used for related goods or services.

A comprehensive clearance search normally includes:

• the USPTO database of federal applications and registrations;
• state trademark databases; and
• internet and marketplace searches for potentially conflicting use.

The examining attorney will perform a federal database search after filing, but the USPTO will not refund your application fee simply because a conflicting mark prevents registration.

Name the legal trademark owner correctly from the start

The application must identify the actual legal owner of the trademark.

USPTO warns that naming the wrong party as owner when the application is filed can be a non-fixable mistake that causes the application to fail.

The owner might be an individual, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint owners or another recognized legal entity. Enter the owner's complete legal name and correct entity type rather than the name of the person merely preparing the application.

Choose standard characters or a special-form mark

Every application must include a depiction of the trademark, which the USPTO calls the drawing.

A standard-character mark consists of text without claiming a particular font, size, color or design. This format is often appropriate when the wording itself is the important brand element.

A special-form mark contains stylized wording, a design, a logo or other visual features. If color is claimed as a feature, additional statements describing the colors and where they appear are required.

The choice matters because the drawing defines the trademark for which registration is sought.

Describe the goods and services accurately

A federal application does not register a trademark in the abstract. It must identify the particular goods or services associated with the mark.

Goods and services are organized into international classes, and the filing fee is calculated per class.

The USPTO encourages applicants to choose pre-approved descriptions from the Trademark ID Manual through Trademark Center when they accurately describe the business activity.

Using custom free-form descriptions can increase both cost and examination complexity.

Free-form descriptions can add $200 per class

The USPTO currently charges an additional $200 per class when an applicant uses the free-form text field for custom goods or services descriptions rather than selecting appropriate wording directly from the ID Manual.

This fee also applies when ID Manual wording is copied and pasted into the free-form field.

The base application fee is $350 per class

For applications filed directly with the USPTO under Trademark Act Sections 1 or 44, the current base filing fee is $350 per class of goods or services.

For example, an application containing goods or services in one class generally starts with a $350 filing fee. Two classes generally require $700 in base filing fees.

Filing fees are generally not refunded if the application is later refused or abandoned.

Incomplete applications can cost more

Since the 2025 trademark fee changes, additional application fees may apply when a Section 1 or Section 44 application does not satisfy the base-application requirements.

Current examples include:

• $100 per class for insufficient required application information; and
• $200 per class for using the free-form goods/services identification field.

The free-form identification can also generate an excess-character fee of $200 for each additional group of 1,000 characters after the first 1,000 characters in a class.

Providing complete information and using acceptable ID Manual descriptions where appropriate can therefore reduce avoidable fees.

Use Section 1(a) when the mark is already used in commerce

A common filing basis is Trademark Act Section 1(a), use in commerce.

This basis applies when the applicant is already using the trademark in commerce for the goods or services identified in the application and can satisfy the legal use requirements.

For goods, use in commerce generally means the mark is placed on the goods, packaging or qualifying point-of-sale material and the goods are actually sold or transported in commerce.

For services, the mark must be used in the sale, advertising or rendering of services that are actually being rendered in commerce.

Section 1(a) applicants need acceptable evidence of use

A specimen is evidence showing how the trademark is actually encountered by consumers. It is different from the application drawing.

A Section 1(a) applicant generally must submit an acceptable specimen for the listed goods or services, together with the required use information.

The specimen must show genuine use in commerce, not use created merely to reserve rights in a trademark.

You can file before launching with a bona fide intent to use

If you have not yet begun qualifying use in commerce, you may be able to apply under Section 1(b), intent to use.

You must have a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce. An intent-to-use application can establish an earlier application filing date, but Section 1(b) alone is not a basis for final registration.

Before registration, you must eventually establish actual use in commerce and file the required allegation of use.

Intent-to-use applicants pay additional fees later

If an intent-to-use application reaches the Notice of Allowance stage, you generally have 6 months from the Notice of Allowance date to submit a Statement of Use or request a 6-month extension.

The current fee is $150 per class for an Amendment to Allege Use or Statement of Use and $125 per class for an extension request.

USPTO permits up to five 6-month extension periods after the Notice of Allowance, subject to the applicable requirements. Later extension requests require a showing of good cause through a statement describing ongoing efforts to use the mark.

Prepare owner, domicile, mark and declaration information

USPTO base-application requirements include information about the applicant and the mark.

Depending on the application, required information can include:

• the applicant's legal name and entity type;
• the applicant's domicile address;
• the drawing of the mark;
• goods and services;
• a filing basis;
• required statements about color, translations, transliterations or living individuals when applicable; and
• a declaration that the application facts are true, dated and signed by a person authorized to sign for the trademark owner.

An application that omits information required for the base filing may trigger additional fees and may also receive an office action.

Identity verification is mandatory before filing

Trademark filers need their own USPTO.gov account with two-step authentication.

Identity verification is mandatory for users who file through USPTO trademark systems. USPTO states that most users can complete the one-time online verification process in less than 15 minutes.

Do not share your USPTO.gov account credentials. USPTO warns that every person should use their own account and that attorneys filing for clients must use their own verified accounts.

Foreign-domiciled applicants must have U.S. counsel

If the trademark owner is domiciled outside the United States or its territories, a U.S.-licensed attorney is required to represent the applicant before the USPTO.

For an individual, domicile generally means the place where the person resides and intends to have their principal home. For a business entity, domicile generally means the principal place of business where senior executives or officers ordinarily direct and control the entity's activities.

Applicants domiciled in the United States or its territories are not required to hire an attorney, although USPTO strongly encourages applicants to consider using an attorney who practices trademark law.

USPTO assigns a serial number and begins examination

After filing, the application receives a USPTO serial number. Use that number in the Trademark Status and Document Retrieval system, known as TSDR, to monitor the record.

An examining attorney reviews whether federal law allows registration and checks the USPTO database for potentially conflicting trademarks.

As of data updated August 10, 2026, the USPTO reports an average of 4.2 months between filing a new trademark application and the first examining action.

This is an average, not a guaranteed processing time.

Most office actions have a 3-month response deadline

If an examining attorney identifies a refusal or application requirement, the USPTO may issue an office action.

For most applications under Sections 1 and 44, USPTO must receive a response within 3 months from the office-action issue date.

A single additional 3-month extension can generally be requested before the original deadline for a fee. The exact deadline stated in the office action controls, because some actions have different response periods.

If you do not respond on time, the application can become abandoned.

Approved trademarks face a 30-day opposition period

If the examining attorney finds no remaining basis for refusal and all application requirements are satisfied, the mark is approved for publication in the Trademark Official Gazette.

After publication, any party that believes it would be harmed by registration generally has 30 days to file an opposition or request additional time to oppose.

An opposition is a proceeding before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and can significantly extend the registration process.

The next step depends on your filing basis

If a qualifying Section 1(a) use-in-commerce application completes publication without a successful opposition, the USPTO can proceed toward registration.

A Section 1(b) intent-to-use application instead receives a Notice of Allowance after successfully completing publication. The applicant must then prove actual use in commerce by the applicable deadline before registration can issue.

There is no single guaranteed registration timeline

Trademark registration is a legal examination process, not an instant business filing.

Current USPTO data shows an average of 4.2 months to the first examining action, but the total process can be much longer if the application receives an office action, conflicts with another application, faces an opposition or was filed on an intent-to-use basis.

A straightforward use-based application with no substantive issues will normally move faster than an application requiring legal arguments, amendments, opposition proceedings or later proof of use.

Avoid expensive mistakes before submitting the application

• Naming the wrong owner: USPTO identifies this as a potentially non-fixable error.
• Skipping the clearance search: a confusingly similar earlier mark can block registration.
• Assuming a state business-name filing equals a federal trademark registration: the systems serve different legal purposes.
• Choosing vague or inaccurate goods and services: the application must identify what the mark actually covers.
• Using unnecessary free-form descriptions: this currently adds $200 per class.
• Submitting incomplete base-application information: certain omissions trigger an additional $100 per class.
• Using the wrong filing basis: Section 1(a) requires actual qualifying use, while Section 1(b) requires a bona fide intent to use and later proof of use.
• Using a mockup as a specimen: use-based evidence must show genuine use in commerce.
• Missing an office-action deadline: the application can become abandoned.
• Assuming filing guarantees registration: USPTO can refuse registration even after fees have been paid.

Registration does not eliminate every brand-protection responsibility

Federal registration provides important legal benefits, but USPTO does not police the marketplace for you. The trademark owner is responsible for monitoring and enforcing its rights.

Registration also creates future maintenance obligations. Required documents and fees must be filed during statutory maintenance periods to keep the registration active.

Before paying for an application, make sure the trademark owner, mark format, goods and services and filing basis accurately match the brand you intend to protect.