Trademark Lawyer

You can file a trademark application without a lawyer. What you cannot do without training is accurately assess conflict risk before you file, spot a poorly written description of goods and services before it triggers an office action, or draft a response to a likelihood-of-confusion rejection that actually works. Trademark lawyers prevent expensive mistakes and fix them when they happen. The DIY path is cheaper at the start. It is rarely cheaper in total.

Size does not determine whether a trademark matters. The value of the brand does. A small business with a distinctive name that customers recognize has real IP worth protecting. The USPTO does not scale its requirements or timelines based on your revenue. If a larger company files on your brand name first, your size gives you no advantage. A clearance search and a professional filing are affordable relative to the cost of rebranding.

USPTO filing fees are $250–$350 per class of goods or services. CIPO fees in Canada start at CAD $336 for the first class. Attorney fees for a single-class US application run $500–$1,500. Total cost for a straightforward one-class filing: $800–$2,000. I quote clearly before starting and use flat fees wherever possible. No billable-hour surprises.

The USPTO publishes current examination timelines. For a straightforward application, expect 8–14 months from filing to registration. Canadian CIPO applications take 18–24 months. You can use ™ from the moment you file. ® becomes available only after registration is confirmed.

™ signals that you are claiming trademark rights in a mark. You can use it from the day you start using the mark in commerce, whether or not you have registered it. ® means the mark is federally registered with the USPTO or CIPO. Using ® on an unregistered mark is a federal violation. Once your registration certificate issues, you switch from ™ to ®.

Yes. I hold bar admissions in California and in Ontario, which means I handle both USPTO and CIPO trademark applications without referring you to a second firm. For clients operating in both markets, that means one attorney, one consistent strategy, and no handoff between jurisdictions.

Trademark strength runs on a spectrum. Fanciful marks (invented words like Xerox or Kodak) are the strongest. Arbitrary marks (common words used in an unrelated context, like Apple for computers) are strong. Suggestive marks are registrable. Descriptive marks are weak and often rejected. Generic terms cannot be registered at all. Before you invest in a brand, a clearance search and a strength assessment tells you what you are working with.

An office action is a formal objection from the USPTO examiner explaining why your application cannot proceed as filed. Common reasons: likelihood of confusion with an existing mark, an overly broad description of goods and services, or a mark that is considered merely descriptive. Each office action has a six-month deadline. Missing it abandons the application. Most office actions are answerable, but only if you understand what the examiner is actually asking.

If the application is still pending, you may be able to file an opposition with the TTAB during the 30-day publication window. If the mark is already registered, you may be able to cancel it on grounds of likelihood of confusion or priority of use. Both are time-sensitive proceedings. The earlier you act, the more options you have.

Yes. Enforcement typically starts with a cease-and-desist letter: a formal demand to stop the infringing use. If that does not resolve the issue, options include a TTAB cancellation proceeding, a federal lawsuit under the Lanham Act, or a platform-specific complaint (UDRP for domain disputes, content takedown for social media). The right tool depends on what the infringer is doing and how they respond.