Trademark Lawyer

If you are domiciled in the United States or its territories, you can file a trademark application without a lawyer; applicants domiciled elsewhere, including in Canada, must be represented by a US-licensed attorney. We recommend comparing the total cost, not just the starting cost.

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 and CIPO set their filing fees per class of goods or services, not by your revenue. We recommend weighing the cost of a clearance search and a professional filing against the cost of rebranding.

USPTO base fees for electronic applications under Sections 1 and 44 are US$350 per class. For reference, CIPO fees in Canada start at CAD $491.06 for the first class when filed online in 2026. Our legal fee for a single-class US application is $2,995 (Brand Locked), plus the USPTO filing fee. I quote clearly before starting and use flat fees wherever possible. No billable-hour surprises. Additional government fees may apply.

The USPTO publishes current examination timelines. For fiscal year 2024–2025, Canada's CIPO published an average turnaround time of 34.5 months for trademark registrations. You can use ™ at any time, even before you file. ® becomes available only after registration is confirmed.

™ signals that you are claiming trademark rights in a mark. You can use it whenever you use the mark, whether or not you have filed an application or registered the mark. In the US, ® indicates registration with the USPTO, and the USPTO states that ® may be used only with the mark for the goods or services listed in the federal registration. Under the USPTO's examination manual (TMEP § 906.04), improper use of ® that is deliberate and intended to deceive or mislead the public or the USPTO is fraud, although an examining attorney may not refuse registration on that ground. Once your registration certificate issues, you switch from ™ to ®.

Yes. I hold bar admissions in California, Ontario, and Quebec. I file US and CIPO trademark applications; Canadian examiner's reports, oppositions, and section 45 proceedings are handled through a licensed Canadian trademark agent. For clients operating in both markets, that means one consistent filing strategy.

Trademark strength runs on a spectrum. The USPTO describes fanciful marks (invented words like Xerox or Kodak), arbitrary marks (common words used in an unrelated context, like Apple for computers), and suggestive marks as strong. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1052(e)(1) and (f), a merely descriptive mark is refused registration on the Principal Register unless it has become distinctive of the applicant's goods in commerce. Generic terms cannot be registered at all. We recommend a clearance search and a strength assessment before you invest in a brand.

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. Most USPTO office actions require a response within three months, with an optional three-month extension requested on time for a fee. Madrid applications under Section 66(a) generally allow six months without extension. Some notices have different deadlines; follow the actual notice. Missing a required response deadline can abandon 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 within 30 days after the mark is published. If the mark is already registered, you may be able to petition to cancel it for likelihood of confusion with your earlier-used mark, but that ground must be raised within five years of the registration date (15 U.S.C. § 1064). Both are time-sensitive proceedings. We recommend acting as early as possible.

Yes. Options include a cease-and-desist letter (a formal demand to stop the infringing use), a TTAB cancellation proceeding if the infringer holds a registration, a federal lawsuit under the Lanham Act, or a complaint under a domain or platform policy (the UDRP for domain names, or a platform's takedown process for social media). We recommend choosing the tool based on what the infringer is doing and how they respond.