How to Trademark a Logo [6 Easy Steps]

Are you looking for the best guide on how you can trademark a logo? Your search ends here.

A company’s logo directs its customers regarding the brand, identity, and values. Nonetheless, your competitors can effortlessly steal on your intellectual property.

The ideal solution to defend your logo from another party is through copyright or trademark.

Copyright is essential for the protection of artistic work such as videos, books, etc.

On the other hand, the trademark is fundamental for distinguishing your company from infringement.

6 Steps to Trademark a Logo

A trademark logo prevents third parties from using your name or design. Colours, names, layout, design, fonts, etc. are covered under the protection of the trademark. Wonder how to trademark a logo?

Here is how:

1. Consider All the Aspects

A trademarked logo will help your clients to differentiate your products and services from other brands. As the business owner, you own the trademark. Therefore, it is your liability to consider all the elements related to the trademark.

One of the significant aspects to anticipate for the trademarked logo is the required cost. The cost must be kept in mind since it determines the remaining budget of your business.

The total amount of cost required for a trademark depends on the attorney’s trademark application and the fees. You can omit to hire the attorney if you are facing an insufficient budget within your company.

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Another important logo trademark characteristic is the processing time of the application. The processing time varies from one case to another. The standard processing time for applications is approximately five to nine months.

Remember to select the desired level of trademark protection. There is no registration required for the Common Law Trademark. If you include your logo in the advertisements of your goods and services, this level of protection instantly applies to your logo.

State Level Trademark is valid within the state of registration. Similarly, the Federal Trademark provides you with protection in various states of the country.

2. Check Availability of Your Logo

A logo must be unique, and useful. The business logo must incorporate exclusive designs, graphics, colors, fonts, and other elements using an extraordinary approach.

A business owner must ensure that the logo he is willing to trademark has unique factors and elements as compared to other brands.

Try to produce an original logo design rather than copying from a famous brand. A unique logo will ensure that your logo is idle and not used by anyone else.

Remember to invent a logo that doesn’t resemble others’ business logo, especially with those who belong to the same industry as you.

Conduct your proper research before filling an application. Copying the logo will cause the rejection of your application. The main goal here is to search for the availability of your logo.

Researching the trademarked logo can be a little tricky to handle. There are a lot of features and fundamentals to consider when researching.

Try to follow the guideline codes provided by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

3. Select the Category of Your Logo

Selecting the correct category of your logo will describe your business as a whole.

It will connect you with the customers searching for this specific category. Choosing a category is an important decision. Therefore it must be measured critically.

According to the USPTO, there are a total of 45 different product classes, where your products or services might fall in.

Be sure to select the desired category for your trademarked logo. Don’t select any non-relevant category or class. Picking the wrong class can also cause the denial of your petition.

4. Hire a Trademark Attorney

Didn’t opt to hire an attorney?

Submit your application on uspto.gov under the class of the Trademark Electronic Application System.

Specification of your logo counts heavily.

Don’t forget to mention whether you want your logo to be submitted as a coloured logo or as a black and white logo. Make sure to upload your logo’s file.

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Filling an application for a trademarked logo can take more than 90 minutes, so have patience.

Each applicant receives a serial number after the submission of the application. You can use this serial number to track the status of your application.

It takes time to review your request. So, allow some tolerance. You can enjoy using a trademarked logo for your business within nine months of paying and submitting your errorless application.

5. File Application

There are over hundreds of guideline codes with 45 different product categories contributed by the USPTO. Keeping track of all these can be challenging for an ordinary business owner.

Track keeping may overwhelm you, but don’t be!

We recommend you to hire a professional attorney for the sake of some easy work. Consultancy with a licensed attorney will cost you some extra bucks, but it will preclude you from a bunch of hassle.

Hiring an attorney will assist and advise you regarding legal justice. They will perform a decent amount of research for your logo. Your application will be prepared and filed according to the standards of the USPTO.

6. Monitor Your Trademarked Logo

If your application approves from USPTO, you will get the proper instructions on how to monitor and maintain your logo.

Make sure to follow those instructions to protect your logo from the third parties.

A trademark watch is arranged by many companies to prevent other brands from using your logo.

Hire legal firms for a trademark watch. Keep their cost under consideration. Be sure to implement your intellectual property for protection.

Summary

A trademarked logo represents the liability of businesses. Make sure to explore financial and functional characteristics before taking any steps. Keep in mind that the application’s fee is non-refundable, so decide intelligently.

Perform proper research on the availability of your logo by following instructions according to USPTO. You can hire a qualified trademark attorney who will facilitate you to guide you on the registration process. They will also fill in the application for you.

Once USPTO successfully approves your application, you will get a set of instructions. These instructions also include some directions of how to complain about a file.