Should I use a lawyer to trademark my company name? You can file it yourself at the USPTO for $350 per class, and for a distinctive one-word mark with a clean search, that often works. A lawyer earns the fee when the mark involves a logo, more than one class, a similar prior filing, or wording that examiners treat as descriptive.
Last updated: August 2026
Key Takeaways
- The USPTO base fee is $350 per class of goods or services, and surcharges of $100 to $200 per class apply when your application is incomplete or uses a custom description.
- Filing is not the hard part. Clearance searching, picking the right class, and writing a description that survives examination are where applications live or die.
- Hiring a lawyer to trademark a company name typically runs $1,500 to $3,500 in professional fees on top of the government filing fee.
- Registering an LLC name with a state does not give you trademark rights, and neither does buying the domain.
- Foreign-domiciled applicants are legally required to be represented by a U.S.-licensed attorney under 37 C.F.R. 2.11.
- The USPTO targets roughly 5 months to a first action and 11 months total pendency, so budget close to a year even when everything goes right.
Do You Legally Need a Lawyer to Trademark My Company Name?
No, not if you are domiciled in the United States. Any individual or U.S. business can file a trademark application directly through the USPTO’s Trademark Center, which replaced the old TEAS filing system for new applications as of January 18, 2025. The government does not require counsel, and thousands of small businesses file on their own every year.
There is one hard exception. If your domicile is outside the United States, the USPTO requires you to be represented by an attorney licensed to practice law in the U.S. That rule appears at 37 C.F.R. 2.11 and it is not waivable. A foreign-domiciled applicant who files without counsel gets an office action demanding one.
So the real question is not permission. When people ask whether to use a lawyer to trademark my company name, what they are really asking is whether the money saved by self-filing is larger than the money lost when the application is refused, narrowed, or opposed. That calculation changes with the mark.
What a Federal Trademark Registration Actually Protects
A federal registration on the Principal Register gives you a bundle of rights that common-law use alone does not:
- Nationwide priority for your goods or services, not just the geographic area where you actually sell.
- The right to sue for infringement in federal court.
- A legal presumption that you own the mark and that it is valid, which shifts the burden onto a challenger.
- The right to use the registered symbol, which deters copycats before litigation ever starts.
- A basis for registering in other countries and for recording with U.S. Customs to block counterfeit imports.
- Eligibility for incontestable status after five years of continuous use.
What it does not do is equally important. A trademark does not protect your product design, your process, or your idea. Those belong to patent and trade secret law. It does not protect your written content, photos, or code, which is copyright territory covered in the complete IP protection guide. And it will not rescue a name that is generic for what you sell or merely descriptive of it without years of proven secondary meaning. The grounds for refusal are laid out in 15 U.S.C. 1052, Section 2 of the Lanham Act.
The Mistake That Costs More Than a Lawyer
The expensive error is not filing wrong. It is assuming you already own the name because a state let you register it.
Forming an LLC in Utah, or in Delaware, or anywhere else, means the state checked whether another entity on its own roster uses a confusingly similar name. That is a corporate records question, not a trademark question. A second company in another state can hold a federal registration for that exact name in your industry, and their federal rights beat your state filing. Owning the .com does not change the analysis either. Domain registration is a contract with a registrar, not a grant of brand rights.
Founders discover this after the sign is printed, the packaging is ordered, and the cease-and-desist arrives. Rebranding an established business costs far more than any clearance search. If you are still deciding on the entity itself, the naming decision interacts with the structure choice covered in do you need an LLC or a DBA and which business structure is right for you, an LLC or S-Corp.
The DIY Process, Step by Step
- Confirm your mark is protectable. Marks fall on a spectrum: fanciful and arbitrary names register easily, suggestive names usually register, descriptive names need acquired distinctiveness, and generic terms never register. Wikipedia’s overview of trademark distinctiveness is a fair primer on the spectrum.
- Search the federal database. Use the USPTO trademark search system to look for identical and similar marks. Search phonetic equivalents, alternate spellings, and translations, not just the literal string.
- Search beyond the USPTO. Common-law users who never registered can still block you regionally. Check state registries, business directories, app stores, social handles, and domain records.
- Pick your international class or classes. There are 45. Software is not clothing, and consulting is not manufacturing. Filing in the wrong class buys you a registration that protects nothing you sell.
- Choose your filing basis. Section 1(a) is for marks already used in commerce and requires a specimen showing real-world use. Section 1(b) is intent to use, which reserves priority before launch but adds later fees.
- Draft the identification of goods and services. Selecting pre-approved wording from the USPTO’s ID Manual avoids a surcharge. Free-form text triggers one.
- File and pay. Then wait for assignment to an examining attorney.
- Respond to office actions. This is where most self-filers stall, because the response is a legal argument, not a form.
The USPTO’s stated targets for the current fiscal year are 5 months from filing to a first action and 11 months or less in total pendency, on average.
What It Costs: Government Fees Versus Total Cost
The USPTO restructured its fees on January 18, 2025, retiring the old TEAS Plus and TEAS Standard tiers in favor of a single base fee plus surcharges. The base fee is not the whole bill if your application is sloppy.
| Fee | Amount | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Base application fee | $350 per class | Every Section 1 or Section 44 application |
| Insufficient information surcharge | $100 per class | Application omits required data fields |
| Custom identification surcharge | $200 per class | You write your own goods and services description instead of using the ID Manual |
| Long free-form description | $200 per class | Each additional group of 1,000 characters past the first 1,000 |
| Statement of use or amendment to allege use | $150 per class | Intent-to-use filings, once you begin selling |
| Extension of time to file use | $125 per class | Each six-month extension on an intent-to-use application |
| Section 8 five-year declaration | $325 per class | Between years 5 and 6 after registration |
| Combined 10-year renewal and declaration | $650 per class | Every 10 years to keep the registration alive |
Fee amounts above come from the USPTO trademark fee schedule. Verify current figures before you file, because the office adjusts them periodically.
| Approach | Typical total, one class | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Self-filed, clean search, ID Manual wording | $350 | Distinctive coined word marks with no similar prior filings |
| Self-filed with surcharges and an office action you handle alone | $450 to $650 plus your time | Founders comfortable reading examiner correspondence and TMEP sections |
| Attorney-handled, search through registration | $1,850 to $3,850 | Logos, multiple classes, close prior marks, or a brand you intend to license or sell |
| Attorney rescue after a refusal | Usually more than filing right the first time | Nobody chooses this on purpose |
Professional fee ranges vary by market and by complexity. For how legal fees are structured generally in this state, see how much a business lawyer costs in Utah.
What a Lawyer to Trademark My Company Name Actually Does for the Money
Filing the form takes under an hour. That is not what you are buying. When you hire a lawyer to trademark my company name, the real work sits before and after the filing:
- Comprehensive clearance. Federal register, all 50 state registries, common-law use, trade publications, domains, and social handles, then an opinion on the actual level of risk rather than a yes or no.
- Distinctiveness strategy. If your name sits close to descriptive, counsel can advise on filing the design version, adding distinctive matter, disclaiming a weak component, or moving to the Supplemental Register as a stepping stone.
- Class and description drafting. Descriptions that are too narrow protect nothing. Too broad and you invite a refusal or a later fraud challenge. The wording is a strategic document.
- Specimen review. Refused specimens are one of the most common and most preventable rejections. A mockup, a printed label, or a page with no ordering function will not qualify.
- Office action responses. A Section 2(d) likelihood-of-confusion refusal is answered with a DuPont factor argument, not a polite email.
- Watching the opposition window. After publication, third parties have a window to oppose. Counsel monitors it and responds.
- Docketing renewals. Registrations die from missed Section 8 and Section 9 deadlines more often than from litigation.
Five Situations Where You Need a Lawyer to Trademark Your Company Name
- Your search turned up anything close. Likelihood of confusion is a multi-factor legal test, not a string comparison. A mark that looks different can still be refused if the goods overlap and the commercial impression is similar.
- You are filing a logo or a design mark. Design marks require a proper drawing, a written description of the design, color claims if color is part of the mark, and design search codes. The failure modes are technical.
- You need more than one class. A company selling both software and apparel needs both. Multi-class applications multiply the fee and the ways to get it wrong.
- Your name describes what you sell. Descriptive marks draw Section 2(e)(1) refusals. Getting past one takes evidence of acquired distinctiveness or a change in filing strategy.
- The brand is a core asset. If you plan to franchise, license, raise capital, or sell, an investor’s diligence will read the registration file. Weak scope shows up as a diligence finding. So do the other gaps in your paperwork, which is why the legal documents checklist for small business in Utah is worth a read alongside this one.
Federal Versus State Trademark Registration
Utah and most other states run their own trademark registers. State registration is cheaper and faster, and it is genuinely useful for a business that operates in one state and has no interstate commerce to support a federal filing. Utah’s state trademark provisions live in Utah Code Title 70, Chapter 3a.
The limits are real. State rights stop at the state line, they do not give you federal court access on their own, and they carry no nationwide presumption of ownership. A federal registrant who later expands into Utah generally outranks a state registrant outside the registrant’s actual established trading area. Treat state registration as a supplement or a stopgap, not a substitute.
What Happens When a DIY Trademark Application Fails
A refusal is not fatal, but it is expensive in the currency founders have least of: time. This is the scenario that makes people wish they had used a lawyer to trademark my company name from the start. The most common refusals are:
- Section 2(d) likelihood of confusion with a registered or earlier-filed mark. The response is a legal brief.
- Section 2(e)(1) merely descriptive. You argue suggestiveness, submit evidence of acquired distinctiveness, or amend to the Supplemental Register.
- Specimen refusal. The sample you submitted does not show the mark used in commerce for the goods claimed.
- Identification or classification problems. Vague or misclassified descriptions get bounced for amendment.
- Failure to function. The phrase reads as ornamentation or a common slogan rather than a source identifier.
You generally have three months to respond to an office action, with an extension available for a fee. Miss it and the application goes abandoned, and your filing fee is gone. Refiling means paying again and losing your original priority date, which matters if a competitor filed in the interval. If a conflict escalates past the USPTO into an actual dispute, the stakes change entirely, and what to do if your business gets sued in Utah becomes the more urgent reading.
Should I Use a Lawyer to Trademark My Company Name, or File It Myself?
Use a simple test. File it yourself if all of the following are true: the mark is a coined or arbitrary word with no design element, a careful search across federal, state, and common-law sources turned up nothing close, you sell in one clearly identifiable class, you can find your exact goods in the USPTO ID Manual, and you already have a compliant specimen showing the mark in use.
Hire counsel if any one of those fails. The decision is not about intelligence or budget discipline. It is about which errors are reversible. A wasted $350 is a bad afternoon. A brand you have to abandon in year three, after the packaging, the reviews, and the customer recognition are already built on it, is a different category of loss. Founders sorting through that trade-off often benefit from the framework in 25 questions to ask before hiring a business lawyer.
After Registration: Keeping the Rights You Paid For
A registration is not a trophy. It is a maintained asset.
- Use it consistently. Rights come from use. Alter the mark materially and the registration may no longer cover what you actually use.
- Police it. Owners who tolerate infringers weaken their own scope over time. Set up watch alerts on new filings in your class.
- Meet the deadlines. Section 8 declaration between years 5 and 6, then combined renewal every 10 years.
- License in writing with quality control. A naked license, meaning one with no control over the licensee’s quality, can void the mark.
- Record assignments. If ownership moves to a holding entity, record it with the USPTO.
If your business generates other protectable output too, such as manuscripts, courses, software, or advertising creative, coordinate the trademark with the rest of the portfolio. Related reading: intellectual property law, advertising law, and Utah attorney for authors. If the company itself is still being built, what an LLC operating agreement is and the Utah startup attorney overview cover the surrounding structure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I use a lawyer to trademark my company name if it is just a simple word?
If the word is coined or arbitrary for your industry, your search found nothing similar, and you sell in one class with a standard ID Manual description, self-filing at $350 per class is reasonable. Any conflict, logo, or descriptiveness concern flips the answer.
How much does a trademark lawyer charge to register a company name?
Flat fees for a single-class word mark commonly run $1,500 to $3,500 in professional fees, plus the $350 government fee per class. Comprehensive searches, design marks, and office action responses are often quoted separately.
How long does trademark registration take?
The USPTO targets about 5 months to a first action and 11 months or less in total pendency for the current fiscal year. An office action, a suspension, or an opposition can push a registration past 18 months.
Does registering my LLC protect my business name?
No. State entity registration only confirms no other registered entity in that state uses a confusingly similar name. It creates no nationwide trademark rights and does not stop a federal registrant in another state from enforcing against you.
Can I trademark a name before I start selling?
Yes, through a Section 1(b) intent-to-use application. It reserves your priority date, but you must later file a statement of use at $150 per class, and each six-month extension costs $125 per class.
What is the difference between the TM symbol and the registered symbol?
TM signals that you claim rights in a mark, and anyone may use it without filing anything. The registered symbol may only be used after the USPTO issues a federal registration. Using it prematurely can jeopardize enforcement.
Do I need a lawyer if I live outside the United States?
Yes. Under 37 C.F.R. 2.11, applicants and registrants whose domicile is outside the United States must be represented by an attorney licensed to practice in the U.S. This requirement is not optional.
What happens if someone opposes my trademark application?
After publication, a third party may file an opposition with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. That is an adversarial proceeding with pleadings, discovery, and briefing. Handling it without counsel is rarely realistic.
Can I trademark a name someone else is already using?
Not if their use predates yours and the marks are confusingly similar for related goods. Prior unregistered common-law users can block registration and can also sue, which is precisely why a search beyond the federal database matters.
Still asking whether to use a lawyer to trademark my company name? That gets easier once someone looks at the actual mark. A clearance conversation before you file is cheaper than a rebrand after you launch.
Call (801) 613-1472 or start at Business Lawyer Utah to see how the practice handles brand and entity work.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Trademark law is fact-specific and fee schedules change. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.