Registering a Trademark with the USPTO: A Complete Guide

54 questions on registering a trademark with the USPTO, answered and cited by the UpLaw editorial team.

• Are disparaging or scandalous trademarks still refused registration?
• Can an abandoned trademark application be revived?
• Can I register a trademark containing a living person's name?
• Can I register my surname as a trademark?
• Can product design or packaging be registered as trade dress?
• Can the identification of goods be broadened after a trademark application is filed?
• Does a U.S. trademark registration protect the mark in other countries?
• Does federal registration create trademark rights in the United States?
• Does the USPTO audit post-registration maintenance filings?
• Do foreign applicants need a U.S. attorney to file a trademark application?
• Do I need an attorney to register a trademark?
• How can a trademark owner lose a registered mark through abandonment?
• How does the Madrid Protocol Section 66(a) basis differ from a domestic filing?
• How do you overcome a Section 2(d) likelihood-of-confusion refusal?
• How do you respond to a descriptiveness refusal under Section 2(e)(1)?
• How long does it take to register a trademark with the USPTO?
• How long do I have to respond to a USPTO trademark office action?
• How specific must the identification of goods and services be in a trademark application?
• Is claiming the wrong filing basis a serious problem?
• What are the DuPont factors for likelihood of confusion at the USPTO?
• What are the four filing bases for a U.S. trademark application?
• What are the most common mistakes in a USPTO trademark application?
• What did B&B Hardware v. Hargis Industries decide about TTAB decisions?
• What does a Section 1(a) use-in-commerce application require?
• What does it cost to file a trademark application under the 2025 fee structure?
• What does registration on the Principal Register provide?
• What does the verified declaration in a trademark application swear to?
• What happened to TEAS Plus and TEAS Standard?
• What happens during USPTO trademark examination?
• What if I have started using an intent-to-use mark on only some of the goods?
• What is an acceptable trademark specimen for goods?
• What is an acceptable trademark specimen for services?
• What is an intent-to-use trademark application?
• What is a Notice of Allowance, and what must follow it?
• What is a Section 8 declaration of continued use?
• What is a trademark disclaimer, and when is one required?
• What is fraud on the USPTO, and how hard is it to prove?
• What is genericide, and which trademarks have died from it?
• What is the difference between a non-final and a final office action?
• What is the difference between a standard character and a special form trademark drawing?
• What is the difference between the Principal Register and the Supplemental Register?
• What is the domicile address requirement on a trademark application?
• What is the minimum needed to get a trademark filing date?
• What is the Nice Classification system?
• What is the spectrum of trademark distinctiveness?
• What is the Trademark ID Manual, and why does it matter for fees?
• What is the trademark opposition period?
• What is trademark incontestability under Section 15?
• What proves a bona fide intent to use a trademark?
• What tools are available in responding to a trademark office action?
• What two requirements apply to every trademark specimen?
• When must a federal trademark registration be renewed?
• Who must be named as the applicant on a trademark application?
• Why is trademark clearance the most important step before filing?