To register a business name as a federal trademark, search for conflicts, choose the right owner and goods or services, and apply through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The base filing fee is $350 per class.
Forming an LLC does not register your trademark. Buying the domain does not either. You can build some trademark rights by using a name in business, but federal registration offers broader protection.
The order matters. Check the name before you spend money on signs, packaging, and a website. A filing fee is small compared with replacing a brand customers already know.
What a Trademark Protects
A trademark identifies the source of a product or service. It can be a name, logo, or slogan. A service mark does the same job for a service business. People often use “trademark” for both.
These filings serve different purposes:
| Filing or Purchase | What It Does | Main Limit |
|---|---|---|
| LLC or corporation filing | Forms your legal entity | State name approval is not trademark clearance |
| DBA registration | Records an assumed business name | Does not itself create trademark rights |
| Domain purchase | Gives control of a web address | Does not itself give brand rights |
| Federal trademark registration | Adds nationwide brand protections | Scope depends on the mark, goods, and prior rights |
| Copyright | Protects original creative work | Does not protect business names |
| Patent | Protects qualifying inventions or designs | Does not protect business names |
An original logo may qualify for both copyright and trademark protection. Those rights protect different things. The USPTO explains the distinction in its guide to trademarks, patents, and copyrights.
If you are still setting up the company, see DailyDime’s guide to forming a business. Your legal entity and your customer-facing brand do not have to share the same name.
What Federal Registration Adds
Trademark rights can begin through actual use. These common-law rights generally depend on where you do business and where buyers know your brand. An online store does not automatically give you nationwide rights.
Registration on the USPTO’s Principal Register adds important benefits, including a legal presumption of ownership and nationwide protection tied to your listed goods or services. It does not erase another business’s earlier rights or give you ownership of a word in every market.
A state trademark registration provides protection under that state’s law. It is not a required step before a federal application. U.S. registration also does not automatically protect the name overseas. See the USPTO’s explanation of federal, state, and common-law rights.
You can use ™ to claim a trademark before filing. Service businesses can use ℠. Use ® only after federal registration, and only for the goods or services that registration covers.
Should You Register the Name or Logo
For a business focused on protecting its name, a standard character mark is often the first filing to consider. It covers the wording without limiting it to a certain font, size, or color.
A special form mark covers a specific design, stylized wording, or a combination of words and artwork. Its protection is not limited to pixel-for-pixel copies, but a major redesign may require a new application.
You can file a logo that includes your name as one combined mark. That is different from getting separate registrations for the plain wording and the logo. Separate registrations require separate applications and fees. The USPTO’s guide to mark formats shows the difference.
A slogan can be another filing if it identifies your brand. A common sales phrase or decorative message may not qualify.
How to Trademark a Business Name in Six Steps
1. Choose a Name You Can Protect
A strong name helps customers spot your business. It also gives you a better starting point for trademark protection.
Made-up words can work well. So can familiar words used for an unrelated product, such as Apple for computers. A suggestive name hints at a feature without describing it outright.
Descriptive names are harder to protect. “Cold Water” for bottled water describes the product. A generic term, such as “Bicycle” for bicycles, cannot function as a trademark for those goods.
Some descriptive names can qualify for the Principal Register after buyers learn to connect them with one source. Others may qualify for the Supplemental Register, which offers fewer benefits. A surname or place name can also face extra hurdles. Review the USPTO’s examples of strong and weak trademarks.
2. Search for Similar Brands
Start with the USPTO trademark search tool. Search the exact name, spelling changes, sound-alike names, and marks with a similar meaning.
Then search the web, marketplaces, state trademark records, and business-name databases. Unregistered brands may still have rights. A dead federal record does not prove that a name is safe to use.
The test is whether buyers could confuse the sources of related goods or services. An exact match is not required. Different classes do not guarantee that two brands can coexist. The USPTO explains this as likelihood of confusion.
Check domains and social handles too, but treat them as practical checks. For the full sequence, use DailyDime’s business name availability guide. If you find a close match, get legal advice before committing to the name.
3. Identify the Correct Owner
List the person or legal entity that owns the mark. If your LLC owns the brand, use the LLC’s exact legal name. A sole proprietor may file as an individual.
Do not list an LLC that has not been formed. Do not assume the founder should own a mark that belongs to the company.
A typo may be fixable. Filing under the wrong owner can make an application void and force you to start over. Check the USPTO’s rules for correcting application errors before treating ownership as a clerical detail.
4. Describe What You Sell
The USPTO groups goods and services into 45 classes. You pay for each class included in each application.
Use the Trademark ID Manual to find descriptions that fit what you sell. Select those entries inside the application when possible. Do not choose an inaccurate description just to avoid a fee.
Your protection does not extend to every item in a class. The goods or services you list matter. Include what you use the mark for, or genuinely plan to use it for under an intent-to-use filing. Avoid a wish list of products you may never launch.
5. Choose Your Filing Basis and Proof
Most U.S. founders choose between two filing bases:
- Use in commerce, Section 1(a): You already use the mark with the listed goods or services in qualifying commerce.
- Intent to use, Section 1(b): You have a real plan to use the mark but have not started qualifying use yet.
Qualifying commerce includes interstate and foreign commerce. Some activity within one state can qualify too, such as a restaurant serving interstate travelers. Simply launching a website is not enough if you have not provided the goods or services.
An intent-to-use filing can establish an earlier priority date if the mark later registers. Keep records of your launch plans. Read the USPTO’s intent-to-use guidance for the rules and deadlines.
For a use-based application, provide dates of first use and a specimen, which is evidence of real use. For goods, that might be a photo of branded packaging or a qualifying product page with ordering information. For services, it might be a page linking the mark to services you actually provide.
Include the URL and access or print date with a webpage specimen. A mockup or digitally altered image made to show use is not acceptable. The USPTO’s specimen guide shows examples.
6. File and Track the Application
Apply through Trademark Center. Set up a USPTO.gov account, two-step authentication, and identity verification. Review the owner, mark, descriptions, filing basis, and fees before submitting.
Save your serial number and monitor the application in Trademark Status and Document Retrieval. Filing does not guarantee approval. Application fees are generally not refunded if the mark is refused.
U.S.-domiciled applicants can file without a lawyer. Foreign-domiciled applicants generally must use a U.S.-licensed attorney. The USPTO explains when an attorney is required.
How Much Does a Trademark Cost
Government fees below were checked on October 5, 2026. They apply to the common U.S. filing routes discussed here. Lawyer fees are separate.
| Filing | USPTO Fee Per Class |
|---|---|
| Base application | $350 |
| Missing required information | +$100 |
| Free-form goods or services description | +$200 |
| Each extra 1,000 characters or portion beyond the first 1,000 in an affected class | +$200 |
| Statement of Use or Amendment to Allege Use | $150 |
| Each six-month Statement of Use extension request | $125 |
| Section 8 declaration in years 5 to 6 | $325 |
| Combined Sections 8 and 9 filing in years 9 to 10 | $650 |
Source: USPTO trademark fee information. Fees can change.
A one-class application that meets the base requirements starts at $350. An intent-to-use application adds at least $150 later to show use, bringing the basic government total to $500. One extension would bring that example to $625.
Filing the plain name and a separate logo in one class each starts at $700 in application fees. Two classes for each would start at $1,400.
The free-form fee applies even if you copy ID Manual wording into the free-form box. Select the entry within Trademark Center instead. If you add free-form text, the character count includes the other descriptions in that class. See the additional-fee rules.
Ask lawyers for a written scope and quote. Find out whether the price covers a clearance search, filing, responses to objections, and later proof of use. A low filing-service price may cover only preparation of the form.
How Long Registration Takes
As of October 1, 2026, the USPTO reported an average of 4.3 months to the first examining action and 10.4 months from filing to registration or abandonment.
That second figure includes applications that do not register. It is not a promise that your mark will be approved in 10.4 months. Objections, disputes, and waiting to begin use can extend the process. Check the current USPTO wait times before planning around a date.
An examiner may send an office action with objections or requests for fixes. For most applications discussed here, the response deadline is three months, with one paid three-month extension available. Follow the deadline in your notice. Missing it can abandon the application.
After approval for publication on the Principal Register, others generally have 30 days to oppose the mark or request more time. A use-based application can then move toward registration if no opposition blocks it.
An intent-to-use application instead receives a Notice of Allowance. You generally have six months to file a Statement of Use or request an extension. Up to five six-month extensions can provide a maximum of three years from that notice. See the USPTO registration process.
Keep the Registration Alive
For the standard U.S. registrations covered here, calendar these windows from the registration date:
- Years 5 to 6: File a Section 8 declaration of continued use or qualifying excusable nonuse.
- Years 9 to 10: File the combined Section 8 declaration and Section 9 renewal.
- Every 10 years afterward: Repeat the combined maintenance filing.
There is a six-month grace period with added fees. Miss that too, and the registration will be canceled or expire. Keep the listed goods and services accurate, and remove items no longer in use when required. Follow the USPTO’s maintenance guidance.
The USPTO does not monitor the market or enforce your rights for you. Watch for confusingly similar brands. If a conflict appears, have a trademark lawyer assess it before sending threats or agreeing to change your name.
Where to Start
Search the name before you build the brand. Then confirm the owner, choose the right descriptions, and decide whether to file based on current use or a real plan to launch. If the name will be central to your business, consider filing for the wording first. Get legal help when the search turns up close matches, ownership is unclear, or the name describes what you sell. Those choices matter more than how quickly you finish the form.