Trademark Registration

Licensed Trademark Attorney in Detroit

Federal trademark registration is an essential ingredient in the establishment of a successful brand.

Whether you’re launching your first product or managing the intellectual property library of a Fortune 500 corporation, Federal trademark registration will protect you from infringement, the importation of knock-off products, and consumer confusion as to your brand identity.

Trademark Registration Services

The Hilla Trademark Law Firm will not only draft and file your application but will first properly research the registrability of your name, logo, tag-line, or advertising phrase.

Step 1: Our process is to learn your business. What are you offering and where are you offering it? Do you plan to expand? Will you be offering new products or services going forward? Will your prospective mark adequately protect those new products or services when you begin to offer them?

Step 2: To take that information and properly research not only the Federal and state trademark registers but also the market at large. Are there businesses using that name, regardless of registry? Internet domain names in use? Social media handles you might at least want to be aware of?

We will root that information out for you and the draft a detailed Opinion Letter to you, noting any dangerous conflicts and recommending whether an application filing with the USPTO may offer a low, moderate, or high-risk chance of opposing response.

Step 3: Drafting and filing your Federal trademark registration application.

We will expertly draft your Trademark application with a tactical eye toward obtaining for your mark and your enterprise the fullest scope of protection possible. We will review the application with you prior to its filing to ensure that it properly describes your business and its product.

Once your application is filed, we will provide you regular and proactive updates as to its progress through the approval process, any Oppositions or Office Actions filed in response, and, finally, as to its approval.

Trademark Registration Timeline:

  • The trademark registration process takes as much as a year, in many cases.
  • First, the Hilla Law Firm will obtain the information from you necessary to learn your business, its goals, its products, and its services.
  • With that information, we will conduct a search to ensure that the prospective trademark is clear, safe, and will adequately identify your enterprise without leaving any consumer confused.
  • The search and the return of our Opinion Letter describing the risks involved (or lack thereof) in applying for the registration of your mark generally takes a week or less.
  • Once you elect to proceed with the application after reviewing our Opinion Letter, we will draft and submit your application with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
  • The USPTO will assign an Examiner to review your application upon filing, but it will generally take at least 90 days to receive the first Response.
  • That response may involve an Office Action, a refusal, or questions, or the application may sail on through without any administrative or substantive response.
  • Either way, presuming any negative responses are resolved, the application then proceeds to Publication.
  • The application will be published for 30 days in the Trademark Gazette during this Publication phase of the process.
  • If a third party notes it and then wants to oppose the application of your mark, it must be done within that 30-day window.
  • Once your mark clears this publication process, after several more weeks, the mark will be registered.

Note that this timeline is for an “in-use” application rather than an “intend to use” application (meaning that the mark is already being used in interstate commerce when the application is filed). For “intend to use” applications, several more steps are involved.

Read our article here for more information on choosing a STRONG trademark!

Read more here about the BENEFITS of Federal Trademark Registration.

Register Your Trademark Now
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