Trademark Application Information
In today’s electronic environment, communications made with the US Trademark Office are more efficient than ever before. Most communications can now be handled electronically. As of January 1, 2005, the electronic filing fee per international class for a mark is $325.00.
Once an application is filed, it takes approximately six months before the Trademark Office issues an Office Action. This paper will either state there are no conflicting marks to registration or it will invite the applicant to submit argument, if reasonable under the circumstances, to convince the Examiner to allow the registration.
In most cases, applications can be filed as either Actual Use (Section 1a) or Intent-to-Use (Section 1b). If filed as an ITU, there will be additional charges and fees to convert to an Actual Use application. This is because the US Trademark Office will not register a mark until that mark has been actually used in commerce in the United States, unless based on foreign registration.
What are the costs to obtain a trademark? As can be seen from above, it first depends upon whether an actual use or ITU application is filed. Next, the description of goods and services you provide in the application may be considered by the Trademark Examiner to cover more than one classification. If this is the case, then an additional fee of $325 per class must be paid to cover the submitted description.
In the most streamline situation, an actual use application in one classification would cost a total of $875.00 ($325 filing fee + $550 preparation). If this application were to register, there would only be minor additional costs for advising the client and calendaring 5 and 10 year notices necessary for maintaining the live status of the registration.
Before filing the application, a simple search of the Trademark Office database would be conducted to determine if your mark was already applied for by another party. However, a more thorough “clearance search” of the trademark database is recommended which would take into account variations in spelling. This search would cost $400.00 and is used to identify registered marks that the owners of may consider your intended mark to infringe. It’s better to find out early and consider a new name rather than receiving a letter demanding you refrain from continuing use of your mark after your product has reached the public. The costs to change the name, alter packaging, and having to explain to your distributors/customers make the cost of a clearance search very reasonable.
