A trademark is a type of government-granted monopoly that identifies the origin of a product. Trademarks can include words, phrases, logos, or trade dress. Here are the easy steps to register a trademark in the United States:
  1. Make sure your mark is not too descriptive of the product, or it may be seen as too generic for registration.
  2. Get a good trademark attorney. The USPTO rejects applications with even minor errors and pays no refund.
  3. Have a trademark search done to make sure that there are no existing marks with which your mark is confusingly similar. You don't want yet another swirl for a logo.
  4. Use the name in interstate commerce, using the TM symbol.
  5. If you are registering a pictorial mark, make sure you also own the copyright.
  6. Now you can have your lawyer submit a registration to the USPTO, at a cost of about $300 per mark.
  7. After five years of continuous use, file an affidavit of continued use with the USPTO. Now your trademark is incontestable.
  8. Every ten years, pay the renewal fee.
After you have registered your trademark, make sure to follow these rules:

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