Whether you want to register a trademark that you have just created or a trademark that you have used for years, the first step in the trademark registration process is to determine whether and to what extent other parties are using trademarks similar to yours. A comprehensive trademark search will help answer two questions relating to your trademark:

• Is anyone using this mark
• Will use of your trademark subject you to liability for trademark infringement?

Once we have filed your application with the USPTO, they will assign a "filing date" as of the date the application was received. If the application meets the filing requirements, the PTO assigns it a serial number.

A few months after the application is filed, an Examiner at the PTO will review the application and determine whether the mark may be registered. If the examining attorney determines that the mark cannot be registered, the examining attorney will issue a letter, referred to as an "Office Action," listing any grounds for refusal and any corrections required in the application. The Office Action must be responded to within six months, or the application will be abandoned. Please contact Trademarkia if you receive an Office Action, and if you are using our Gold Package, an Attorney can respond on your behalf.

The Examiner may refuse to register the trademark for a number of reasons, including a conclusion that there is a likelihood of confusion between the applicant's mark and a registered mark. Marks which are merely descriptive in relation to the applicant's goods or services, or a feature of the goods or services, may also be refused. Marks may be refused for other reasons as well. In some cases, a properly crafted response to the Office Action can overcome the Examiner’s initial refusals to register the trademark.