A Virginia state trademark and a federal one are not the same thing at two prices. Here is what each covers, and which your business actually needs.
Run a free trademark searchNorthern Virginia alone is a national business hub: government contractors, data centers, defense and tech firms with clients everywhere. Add Richmond, Hampton Roads, and the ports, and you have an economy that almost never stays inside state lines. That is the catch with a Virginia state trademark. It protects your name in Virginia, and Virginia only. People use "Virginia trademark" to mean one of two separate registrations, and Virginia files its state one in an unusual place.
General information to help you decide, not legal advice. Trademark rights can depend on how and where a mark is used, the goods or services involved, prior users, and other facts. Source: Virginia SCC, Trademark and Service Mark FAQs. Secure Mark USA does not file Virginia state applications.
Your name within the Commonwealth of Virginia, for five years. Useful if your business genuinely operates only in Virginia.
The registered mark across all fifty states, with the (R) symbol and a public federal record. This is the one that matches a business selling online or across state lines.
A federal registration goes through the USPTO Trademark Center (which replaced the older TEAS platform). On current USPTO data, expect roughly 4.5 months to a first action and about 10 months to registration for a clean application, longer with a refusal, an Office Action, a suspension, or an opposition.
Secure Mark USA prepares and files the federal application for you from $99 plus the USPTO fee. Start with a free trademark search or read the complete U.S. registration guide.
Source: USPTO Trademarks Dashboard; USPTO, How much does it cost.
Run a free search. If the name is clear, we file your federal application from $99 plus USPTO fees.
Start my free searchVirginia assigns trademark registration to the State Corporation Commission. It is just where the Commonwealth houses the function, and the registration still only covers Virginia.
Federal. A Virginia only registration would not reach the clients or competitors outside the Commonwealth.
$30 per class, valid five years, renewable. Federal is $350 per class and lasts ten years per term.
No. Entity formation is separate from trademark rights and will not stop a competitor from using your brand name.
Only after the USPTO registers your mark federally, roughly ten months for a straightforward application, sometimes longer.
USPTO: Trademark Basics, How much does it cost, Trademarks Dashboard.
Virginia: State Corporation Commission, Trademark FAQs.
Secure Mark USA: Free trademark search, Complete U.S. registration guide.