Good Question, before reading on, first ask yourself these three questions:
- Are you looking to do business nationally or globally?
- Is your business the first of its kind?
- Have you invented a product? If you answered yes to this question, you will likely need a patent as well.
Did you answer yes to any of those questions?
Then there’s your answer. Let me explain further.
What is a trademark?
A trademark is a protection of your business name, product and/or service mark (logo). It shows ownership and adds value to the existence of your business but also works as an extra layer of protection to prevent competitors from using your name, tagline or service mark. Once your trademark is approved, you have the legal rights of usage and it prevents others from using your approved name or service mark within your class.
What does the process intel?
From my personal experience, the trademark process can take 6 months to a year to go through the necessary processes to be approved. The process starts with the selection of which application you would like to submit. There are a variety of three applications, TEAS Plus, TEAS RF and TEAS Regular with prices varying from $225-400 for each class. For more details visit this direct link for trademark fees to see what each application includes. During this process, you will search for each class that your business qualifies to determine how many classes to apply for your business. Once you submit your application, an attorney is assigned to your application to review your submission.
Each application allows three revisions and allows 6 months for you to respond to a suggested revision. For simple trademarks, you can do it yourself, but for more complex cases I would suggest hiring an attorney.