How to register a trademark in the USA: the 2026 guide

Short answer

To register a U.S. trademark, confirm the name is distinctive and not already in use for related goods, pick the right Nice classes, and file through the USPTO Trademark Center at $350 per class. An examiner reviews it in roughly four to five months, and a clean application typically registers in about ten months.

You start earning common-law rights the day you use a brand in business, but only in the places where you actually trade. A registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) turns that local claim into a national one.

• Nationwide priority dating back to your filing date, including in states you haven't reached yet.
• Public notice. Your mark sits in the USPTO database, so a later user can't credibly claim they never knew about it.
• The right to use ®, which only federally registered marks may carry. Our TM vs ® guide covers when each symbol applies.
• Customs recordation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which helps stop counterfeit imports at the border.
• A path to incontestability after five years of continuous use, which closes off several common challenges.

One thing registration doesn't come from: forming an LLC or corporation. A state business filing reserves a company name on a state register. It gives you no trademark rights, and it won't stop someone who registered the same brand federally from objecting to your use.

Examiners sort marks along a spectrum of distinctiveness. The further right your name sits, the easier it is to register and enforce.

Some marks can't register at all, whatever their distinctiveness: government flags and insignia, the name or portrait of a living person without their written consent, and anything deceptive. A mark that's merely descriptive can sometimes go on the Supplemental Register instead, which gives fewer rights but still lets you use ®.

Search before you spend money on a filing fee, because the USPTO doesn't refund the $350 when an application is refused. Start in the USPTO Trademark Search system at tmsearch.uspto.gov, which replaced the old TESS database in November 2023, then widen out to state records, marketplaces and the open web.

An exact-match search isn't enough. Examiners refuse marks that sound alike, look alike or mean the same thing when the goods are related, so "Koffee Korner" can block "Coffee Corner". Our step-by-step guide on how to check if a trademark name is taken includes the search queries that catch these variations, and likelihood of confusion explained shows how examiners weigh a near-match.

The USPTO uses the international Nice Classification: 45 classes, with 1 to 34 for goods and 35 to 45 for services. Your protection covers only the goods and services you list, and the fee is charged per class, so the goal is to cover what customers actually pay you for and nothing extra.

• Class 25 for clothing, footwear and headwear. See how to trademark a clothing brand.
• Class 9 for downloadable software and apps, and Class 42 for software offered online as a service. See how to trademark an app name.
• Class 35 for retail, online store and business services.
• Class 41 for education, coaching, courses and entertainment.
• Class 43 for restaurants, cafes and catering.

Describe your goods using wording from the USPTO's ID Manual. Writing your own free-form description adds a $200 surcharge per class and is a frequent source of examiner objections.

Every application has a filing basis. Most small businesses use one of two.

If you've picked a name and launch is months away, filing on intent to use protects you against someone filing a similar mark in the meantime. Our page on the Statement of Use explains the second step.

Since January 18, 2025, new applications are filed only through the USPTO's Trademark Center, which replaced the old TEAS application forms. Filers sign in with a verified USPTO.gov account. Have these ready before you start:

• Owner name and entity type, exactly as the business is legally set up
• A street address for the owner (a PO box alone isn’t accepted)
• The mark itself: standard characters for a word mark, or an image for a logo
• Goods and services in ID Manual wording, sorted into classes
• Filing basis for each class
• A specimen for any class filed on use in commerce
• The fee: $350 per class, paid when you file

The USPTO replaced its TEAS Plus and TEAS Standard tiers with a single base application in January 2025. These are the government fees most filers meet, per class:

• $350 base application fee.
• +$100 if required information is missing when you file.
• +$200 for a free-form goods and services description, plus $200 for each additional 1,000 characters.
• $150 for a Statement of Use or Amendment to Allege Use on intent-to-use filings.
• $125 for a 3-month extension to respond to an Office Action.

A one-class application filed with ID Manual wording costs $350 in government fees. Filing services add their own fee on top; Secure Mark USA's plans are $99, $249 and $399. The trademark registration cost guide works through three full examples.

The USPTO reported total processing time of about 10 months in the first half of fiscal 2026. We tell our own clients to plan for 10 to 14 months, because an Office Action or an opposition adds time.

1. Day 1

   Filed

   You get a serial number straight away and can track it in TSDR.

2. About 4–5 months

   Examination

   An examining attorney reviews the application. The USPTO reported first-action pendency of 4.45 months in the first half of fiscal 2026.

3. If needed

   Office Action

   The examiner lists problems to fix. You have 3 months to respond, extendable once.

4. After approval

   Published

   The mark appears in the weekly Official Gazette, published on Tuesdays.

5. 30 days

   Opposition window

   Anyone who believes they’d be harmed can oppose, or ask for more time, up to 180 days from publication.

6. About 10 months

   Registered

   Use-based filings receive a registration certificate. Intent-to-use filings receive a Notice of Allowance and then need a Statement of Use.

An Office Action is a letter from the examining attorney explaining why the application can't be approved as filed. It isn't the end of the application. The ones we see most:

• Likelihood of confusion with an earlier registered or pending mark.
• Merely descriptive: the mark describes a feature of the goods or services.
• Specimen problems: the proof of use doesn't show the mark used in sales.
• Unclear identification of goods or services.

You have three months to respond, and one 3-month extension is available for $125. Missing the deadline abandons the application, and the filing fees aren't refunded. Procedural issues are often fixed with an amendment. Substantive refusals such as likelihood of confusion are legal arguments, and many owners bring in a licensed trademark attorney for those.

A registration can last indefinitely, but only if you keep using the mark and file maintenance documents on time. Each window has a six-month grace period with an extra fee.

Two habits protect a registration between filings. Keep using the mark: three consecutive years of non-use is presumed abandonment under federal law. And watch for copycats, because the USPTO doesn't police your mark for you. Our guide to trademark monitoring explains what to watch and how quickly to act.

Which mistakes cost filers the most?

1. Skipping the search. A refused application keeps your fee.
2. Picking a descriptive name that describes what you sell.
3. Filing in the wrong class, which leaves your real business uncovered.
4. Writing your own goods description and paying the $200 surcharge.
5. Missing the 3-month Office Action deadline.
6. Forgetting the year 5–6 Section 8 filing, which cancels the registration.

Every Secure Mark USA trademark registration starts with a Comprehensive Direct Conflict Search during onboarding, so the first mistake on this list is handled before anything is filed.

Registration questions, answered

Sources

• USPTO fee schedule, checked 17 Oct 2026
• USPTO: Summary of 2025 trademark fee changes
• USPTO: TEAS initial application forms retiring, Trademark Center replaces them
• USPTO: Reducing trademark pendency (May 2026) (4.45-month first action, 10.03-month total processing)
• 37 CFR §2.102: Extensions of time to oppose
• 15 U.S.C. §1127: Abandonment presumption

Secure Mark USA is a trademark filing service, not a law firm. This guide is general information, not legal advice.

Ready to file? Start with the conflict search and let us handle the USPTO application.