Federal trademark registration provides a number of unique benefits. A federal registration allows you to stop others from using or registering a similar trademark in any U.S. state, even if you only sell in a few states. It gives you access to the federal court and a right to sue infringers. A registration can also help stop importation of counterfeit goods into the U.S. Finally, a trademark registration can be very helpful in policing your brand on online platforms like Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, and others. These companies regularly take down infringing content at the request of the owner of a registered trademark.

A trademark can’t be a generic word that everyone in your industry needs. You can’t stop your competitors from using the English language to describe their products and services. The best trademarks are entirely made up words (like Exxon for gas stations or Xerox for photocopiers). However, businesses frequently like to adopt trademarks that are suggestive of what they do or sell (for example, COFFEEMATE for coffee creamer).

The first priority is to protect the name of your business, then your logo, and then your tagline(s) or unique product names. To protect a name, logo, and tagline would require three separate trademark applications.

If your budget doesn’t allow for three or more applications, then you should probably focus on just protecting the name of your business and maybe your logo.

You can always apply for lower priority marks in the future. Also, as your company adds new products or services in the future, you simply apply to expand your protection over those brands, products, and services as they launch. Trademarking isn't a one-time event for most businesses. As they grow, they add more marks to their portfolios. For example, large companies like Nike and Starbucks have hundreds of trademark registrations for example.

Our pricing for a new trademark application varies by the service level you select. The Subscription package costs $99 in legal fees. The Basic package costs $199 in legal fees, and the Premium package costs $499 in legal fees.

Each package will require government filing fees of at least $350.

If you choose the Subscription plan, the quarterly trademark watch service will bill every 3 months, beginning one month from the date of purchase (the first month is free). Subscription required for at least 2 billing cycles. In the event of cancellation, your service level will be downgraded to the Basic plan.

To have Markavo file a new trademark application you start the project by paying the legal fee of one of our packages here: https://www.markavo.com/pricing

Simply click the "Get Started" button and run through the online checkout process.

Several moments after payment clears, you will be emailed an intake form where you will give us additional information about the trademark you would like to register.

Right before your attorney files the documents with the USPTO, you will be charged the government filing fees to the payment method we have on file.

The free trademark search service includes a risk assessment to alert you to potential identical or nearly identical trademarks that would immediately disqualify a trademark from registering. This search is limited to the class of goods or services you plan on applying for. This search is free because it can be performed relatively quickly. It is not the same as an in-depth search, which is recommended before an application is filed with the USPTO.
​

When you pay for a trademark application service, it includes a broader and more-in depth trademark search performed by an attorney. We review your mark against a database of all pending and registered federal trademarks for :

•phonetic similarity
•orthographic similarity
•misspellings
•similar prefix, infix and suffix variations
•vowel and consonant similarity
•similar abbreviations and acronyms

Moreover, this paid search includes a review of all trademark classes, rather than just the primary class of goods and services you specified in our free trademark search form.
​
Finally, common law searches are available as an add on during the checkout process for $175. Common law searches are an important, but frequently overlooked. Take a look at our Why a common law trademark search is important article.

Office Action responses entail additional legal work beyond the initial application and are not included as part of the application service. We charge $125-$399 per Office Action response, depending on the complexity of the issues involved. If you have an active Subscription package, you will receive a 30% discount on legal fees charged to address your Office Action.

We charge $350 in government fees per class of goods or services for every trademark application. This is regardless of whether we file using the TEAS STANDARD option ($350 in government fees) or the TEAS PLUS option ($250 in government fees). The USPTO only offers the reduced fees because the TEAS PLUS application requires significantly more information and allows its trademark examiners to process the application more quickly. The same application filed using TEAS STANDARD requires approximately 30 minutes less attorney time than the same application filed using the less expensive TEAS PLUS option. The lower filing fee for the TEAS PLUS application only comes at the expense of more private attorney processing time. Therefore, we do not pass on the TEAS PLUS discount where we file using that method and always charge $350 per class.

TEAS PLUS applications are 50% less likely to receive a trademark rejection, though. Thus, we try to file using TEAS PLUS where it is possible. Having an attorney spend additional time on the preparation of a TEAS PLUS application is beneficial to our clients because it reduces the time delay that rejections present and the additional legal fees required to address a rejection should one be issued.

The Amazon Brand Registry is a program designed to help brand owners protect their intellectual property and product content on Amazon. Before Amazon will register a trademark on the Amazon Brand Registry they require trademark attorneys to verify the identity of their trademark clients. We complete this identity verification process with Amazon on your behalf for no additional cost.