Trademarks and Service Marks are words, artworks, symbols, or combinations of these which business use to identify their goods and services.  These marks are important because they identify the source of the goods and services to the consumer.  Businesses which provide quality goods and services seek to protect their trademarks and service marks because their marks identify the source of the goods and services for the consumer.  Infringers illegally use duplicates or near-duplicates of legitimate trademarks in an effort to trade off of the goodwill and reputation of the legitimate marks.

Protectable trademark rights can be acquired through simple use of a mark in commerce.  If the mark is used in interstate commerce, the mark owner should consider federal registration of the mark, which increases the owner’s rights and the remedies which the owner may seek in court against an infringer.

Costs related to trademark registration

** PTO fees are subject to annual revision each October. **

Attorney fees will vary; the following references to attorneys fees are fee guidelines used by O’Neil & McConnell, P.L.L.C. and are not reflective of or binding on any other law firm.

Federal registration is performed through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “PTO”).  The cost of filing the registration application will include preparation of the application documents and the PTO’s $375.00 filing fee.  O’Neil & McConnell, P.L.L.C. performs the preparation and filing of the trademark registration application on an hourly basis.

Further costs of registration include attorney time to respond to communications from the PTO, if necessary.  Depending on the mark and the area of commerce in which it is used, the PTO may reject the application or require disclaimers regarding certain portions of the mark, requiring a response on the client’s behalf.  O’Neil & McConnell, P.L.L.C. bills such responses on an hourly fee basis.

Prior to filing a registration application, the client may elect to perform a search to see whether there are known impediments to registration.  O’Neil & McConnell, P.L.L.C. performs such searches on an hourly basis.