Trademarks
Trademark application request
For clients: email us the questionnaire below for a fee quote.
Email us the questionnaire and we will give you a fee quote.
Trademark questionnaire
- What trademark are you applying for (word mark / standard character mark)?
- Is the trademark a logo, a word mark only, or a combination of logo and word mark?
- Will the mark be used:
- to provide goods?
- to provide services?
- Products and services:
- What products does the company intend to provide using the mark?
- What services does the company intend to provide using the mark?
- What products has the company provided in the U.S. using the mark?
- What products has the company provided outside the U.S.?
- Has the company sold the product or service yet?
- Since when has the company provided the product or service?
- Who will own the mark, and what is the owner’s citizenship?
- What is the owner’s permanent address and contact information?
- Do you have tags or labels as used in commerce? Brochures, photographs or advertisements?
- Is there a website that shows use of the mark?
- Who is the designated client contact for this matter?
Questions about self-representation
Clients sometimes ask whether they can handle a filing or a case themselves. We have assisted self-represented (pro per) applicants at the USPTO as well as self-represented litigants.
Can I file a trademark application on my own?
Only if you are based in the United States. U.S.-domiciled applicants are not legally required to hire an attorney or a paralegal service.
Since August 3, 2019, applicants, registrants and parties to Trademark Trial and Appeal Board proceedings whose domicile is outside the United States, including applicants in China, Taiwan and Japan, must be represented by an attorney licensed in the United States. 37 C.F.R. § 2.11(a).
Should I file a trademark application on my own?
If you can afford it, you should hire an attorney. The odds of success are generally much lower without one. Self-represented applicants sometimes have difficulty with office actions and tend to make more mistakes, some of which cannot be fixed later. An initial filing can have fatal defects that cannot be cured and that harm the applicant’s rights.
What if I can’t afford an attorney but need to file an application?
If you are based in the United States and have no funds to hire an attorney, skip the paralegal services and go straight to the USPTO’s own video channel, which has made paralegal services largely unnecessary.
Most paralegal services, such as LegalZoom, help with the initial application but do not respond to office actions with legal arguments. If you receive a difficult office action, you will probably need to hire an attorney at that point, or carefully study the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP) and the applicable Code of Federal Regulations, both available from the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Can I represent myself in federal court?
Yes, you can represent yourself in court. However, you cannot represent your corporation unless you are an attorney admitted to practice in the state where the case is pending.
Can I represent myself in a patent application?
Legally, an inventor may represent themselves in a utility patent application, but it is unwise given how technical the process is. An inventor experienced with patents may be able to file and prosecute a design patent or file a provisional application successfully, but there are risks in doing so.