Trademarks for new business owners

Updated October 18, 2026. Fees from the USPTO's 2025 fee changes. This is general information, not legal advice.

Registering your company or buying the domain doesn't give you the trademark. Here's what does, how to check a name before you commit to it, and what filing costs.

Company name, domain and trademark are three different things

• Your company registration (an LLC on your state's business registry, for example) only stops another company registering the same company name in your state. It doesn't stop anyone selling under your name.
• Your domain is just your web address.
• A trademark protects the name you sell under, for the kind of thing you sell. This is the one that decides who can use the brand.

You get some rights just by using the name

Selling under a name gives you "common law" rights, but mostly in the area where you actually sell. You can put ™ after your name any time. A federal registration with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) adds nationwide rights, a public record that you got there first, and the ® symbol. Marketplaces such as Amazon build their brand programs around registered or pending trademarks.

How to check a name before you commit

1. Search the USPTO. Use the USPTO's trademark search and set the status filter to Live, since dead marks rarely block a new one. Try other spellings, plurals and sound-alikes too, not just your exact name.
2. Look at what each match sells. The same name can be fine if the businesses are unrelated, like software and cheese. It's a problem when buyers could think the two come from the same company.
3. Search your state's trademark register. Most states keep their own, cheaper register that covers just that state.
4. Search the web. Google, marketplaces, social media and domain names show businesses already using the name without registering it. They can have rights too.
5. Check the newest filings. Our free check compares your name with every US application from the last 30 days, including look-alikes and sound-alikes.

A clean result in every step doesn't guarantee the name is free, but it catches most problems before you've printed the labels.

Classes: you register for what you sell

The USPTO sorts goods and services into 45 classes: clothing is one, software another, restaurants another. You pick the classes that match what you sell, and you pay per class.

Filing it yourself, and what it costs

• If you're based in the US you can file online with the USPTO yourself. Applicants based abroad must use a US attorney.
• The application costs $350 per class. Add $200 per class if you write your own description of goods instead of picking one from the USPTO's list, and $100 per class if the application is missing information.
• Not selling yet? You can file on an "intent to use" basis, then pay $150 per class to show the USPTO real use once you start.
• Expect a first response in about 4 to 5 months and a final outcome in about 10 (the USPTO's figures for the first half of 2026).
• To keep a registration, you file proof of use between years 5 and 6, then every 10 years.

After you file

The USPTO won't tell you when someone files a lookalike of your mark. If one gets published, you have 30 days to oppose it (see how to oppose a trademark). A trademark watch spots those filings early, months before that window opens.

When to talk to a trademark attorney

• Your search turns up a close match selling something related
• Your Namealike watch flags a new filing close to yours. Hearing about it at filing, months before the objection window, gives you and your attorney time to act
• The USPTO sends a refusal or a letter you don't understand (an "office action")
• Someone opposes your application or sends you a demand letter
• You need protection outside the US