The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office makes it relatively easy to apply for a trademark registration these days. You can do it right online after creating an account on USPTO.gov.

However, to improve its chances of approval, your company should take certain steps before filing a trademark application. Learn more about them below.

Decide What Trademark You Wish To Register

Your company can register any number of things, including business names, logos, slogans, and more. Before filing your trademark application, you must decide what you want to register. You may also want to improve a mark before putting in your application.

If you decide to change your business name or tinker with your logo midway through the trademark application process, you might be forced to restart it.

Conduct a Comprehensive Trademark Search

You might not think there is any chance another company is using a similar business name, logo, or slogan to the one you wish to register, but double-check to ensure this is the case anyway.

Conducting a trademark search will see to it that there aren’t any existing trademarks that will create conflicts for your company. To avoid them, you may need to make changes to a mark before filing your trademark application.

Land on the Right Filing Basis

Selecting the proper filing basis for a trademark is crucial.

Your filing basis for a trademark should be “use in commerce” if you’re already using a mark as part of your company’s operations. Otherwise, it should be “intent to use” if you plan to start using it in the future.  In some cases you may need to use both filing basis.

Choose the Appropriate Trademark Class

The USPTO utilizes various trademark classes to categorize the goods or services sold under the trademark. Some of these trademark classes are as follows:

• Class 3 for cosmetic and cleaning products
• Class 5 for pharmaceutical products
• Class 12 for automobile products
• Class 14 for precious metal products
• Class 25 for advertising products
• Class 35 for retail sale services

Learn more about the different trademark classes and choose the appropriate goods and services classification.

Put Together the Necessary Documentation

You will need to submit important documentation when filing a trademark application. For instance, you must include information about your business.

You may also need to complete a specimen submission and provide the USPTO with samples of how you plan to use a trademark. Doing this before using the TEAS (Trademark Electronic Application System) to file an application is a great idea.

Contact an Attorney To Help With Filing Your Trademark Application

Companies aren’t legally required to hire trademark attorneys when filing applications. However, you should consider bringing one on board when filing your trademark application.

A trademark attorney will assist you in completing your application. They will also be there to file an office action response if a USPTO examining attorney sends an office action after determining there are issues with your application.  This happens more than 85% of the time!Initiating Protection Law Group, LLC, will set you up with a trusted trademark attorney, making it easier to prepare to file a trademark application. Call us at 678-965-3268 to hear more about how we will help throughout the process.