Trademarking My Business Name: My Experience
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So, here’s the deal: You’ve picked the perfect business name. You love it — it’s got a vibe, it’s clickable, it’s easy to spell, it’s easy to remember, and you’re (maybe) just a little obsessed with it. 😂 Naturally, you want to protect that name like your firstborn child, right?
That’s where trademarks come in.
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to trademark your business, keep scrolling because I went through the process myself and am about to share all the details I can remember! But buckle up — because this isn’t a quick, overnight, set it & forget it kind of thing.
By the end of this post, hopefully you'll have a good idea of whether it's worth the time (and money) to explore and consider this option for yourself, or not.
My Trademark Experience with Filing, Waiting, and Protecting My Brand
Why Pick a Business Name You Love
Your business name is everything. It’s more than just something to slap on a website or sign. It communicates what you do before anyone reads a single line about your work. It can be a huge part of your first impression, even be somewhat descriptive of whatever your business does.
So, when you find the perfect name and you think, "Whoa, I need to make sure no one else can use this too!" That’s where you’ll want to consider trademarking it. It's the first line of defense in preventing other businesses from sneaking away with your creative genius, or worst case scenario –– pretending to be you without your consent. 😳
Whether your biz is a side hustle, a full-blown empire, or something in between, this step could save you a lot of stress in the future.
A Little Background & A Quick Disclaimer
A few years back, I realized I was more than a little obsessed with my business name & had no intention of changing it any time soon (unlike my previous iterations). More importantly, I wanted to make sure I could protect it as best I can, so that led me down the rabbit hole of investigating how to trademark my business name.
It was a very slow process, but absolutely worth it in the end. Here’s how it all works!
DISCLAIMER:
But first, I want to start by saying I am not a legal expert myself, and everything I share here is based on my personal experience working with an attorney licensed in the United States. This process may look very different from country to country, or wherever you live, so make sure you contact a specialized legal expert before you make any decisions for yourself.
What Is a Trademark, Anyway?
Let’s keep this simple: a trademark is a name, symbol, or slogan that’s legally registered to your business, and it gives you exclusive rights to use it. It prevents others from using something that is too similar in a way that causes confusion. Think of it like putting a lock on your brand identity.
For instance, Google is trademarked. No one else can pop up tomorrow with an identical name running a web search engine and not expect some hefty legal response 🙅♀️.
Trademarks are essential because they give legal backing to your hard work. Your brand is yours, and a trademark can help ensure it stays that way.
Why I Decided to Trademark My Business Name
It wasn’t long after my business started gaining some traction and with that loads of compliments on the name itself, that I thought, “Wait…what if someone else starts using this exact name? …Or, what if it’s not as original as I thought it was & someone else was using it before me?” That could’ve been a mess, for both my clients and my business, to have to rebrand simply because someone else had already claimed it, or because someone else decided to copy me & try to claim it.
I wanted to avoid all of that, including the potential confusion of “Wait, are you THAT ‘Launch The Damn Thing?’ or THIS “Launch the Damn Thing’?” and all the other problems with another company showing up that sounds just like mine. So, I decided that trademarking it was the best solution.
Starting with Some Legal Advice
Okay, so about trademarks: theoretically, you can apply for one yourself. Yes, there are online guides, and you could totally save a couple thousand bucks doing the legwork without professional guidance.
BUT… I wanted to make sure I did this right on the first try and wanted to be confident in the trademark’s validity. It just didn’t feel like one of those “DIY” moments for me, especially considering there are legal intricacies involved here, where my brand recognizability is concerned. Talk about something you don’t really want to fuck up! 😂
That’s when I decided to reach out to Paige Hulse from Creative Law Shop & Paige Hulse Law. Her law firm is based in Oklahoma (U.S.) so she’s only licensed to practice law in her state, however with federal trademarks it does not matter where your/you or attorney is located because this is a U.S. Federal process, not a state-by-state process! That basically just means your attorney just needs to be licensed in the U.S. So even though Paige was halfway across the country from me, I worked with her law firm remotely without any issues.
I booked an initial consultation and she explained the process, costs, timelines, and inherent risks of not getting the trademark, etc. Paige’s firm specializes in copyright & trademark law, among other things, and it was clear she knew the process well & felt comfortably in it. She also had the inside scoop (of course) on some considerations I hadn’t even thought about.
What Does It Cost (And, Is It Worth It?)
Let’s talk money. The big question that everyone is probably wondering about hiring an attorney to help with the trademarking process, is: How much will this cost?
It was two flat fees, totaling around $2,250. That included $650 for her team to perform the research before we applied (more on that in a sec!), then the remaining portion of $1,600 for the application process, which took a long time & that fee also included the application fee, the trademark document fee, and some potential time arguing against basic objections during the application process.
Yes, that might feel like a hefty chunk of change if you’re just starting out. But here’s the reality check I had:
Receiving cease-and-desist notices or paying legal fees for a lawsuit later down the road would’ve been a LOT more costly…
Rebranding and building that new brand would have cost me SO MUCH time to essentially backtrack my brand’s reputation and rebuild my brand’s authority…
So, for me, it was well worth the upfront investment of trademarking for the peace of mind I’d have when it was done. Knowing that I could protect my business from name theft? Priceless.
The Trademark Process (Hint: It’s Not a Fast One!)
Paige laid it out for me on the first consult call: getting a trademark in the U.S. is NOT a speedy process. It can take anywhere from 12 to 18 months, and that’s without any objections or problems. Yep — that’s more than a year while your trademark application sits in the system, and it’s first-come, first-serve for whoever’s already in the system waiting to get theirs.
Here’s the step-by-step breakdown of how the process went:
1. Initial Consultation & Acceptance
I spoke with Paige on the first consult, told her what I was aiming for — just trademarking the business name at this point, not my logo (I want a little flexibility there & don’t want to be tied to a specific design) — and she gave me a detailed overview of what to expect. She explained that trademarking your name is a separate endeavor from trademarking a logo or slogan.
She also asked some questions about my business to understand how the trademark would be used in order to decide how many applications to submit, because depending on several factors you might need an application for services & for products, for example.
2. Due Diligence & Research
Before even filing an application, there’s a process called “due diligence” research. Basically, Paige’s team spend a few weeks (4-8ish weeks) researching whether anyone else is already using “Launch The Damn Thing”— or anything remotely similar which could be confused with that name.
This due diligence research is VERY important because you don’t want to submit an application, drop all that money, and end up getting denied right off the bat because someone else beat you to the name two years ago & you didn’t know they existed. Oops!
It’s even more important to pay people who know where & how to research this information too, because they look in places we don’t have access to and further back than you can imagine, in order to uncover EVERY possibility. This research literally results in a minimum of a few thousand pages of data, which Paige & her team go through with a fine-toothed comb, looking for potential conflicts that would affect the application’s success.
My research came back lean & clean, meaning the results of the research were smaller than what’s average, and no one else in my industry had my exact name.
Whew!
After an official “YES” from Paige to proceed, it was up to me as to whether I wanted to move forward & pay the remaining $1,600. I excitedly made the decision to move forward to the next step.
3. Filing the Application
Once Paige gave me the green light from her research and I told her I was ready to apply, we moved forward with my official application within 24-48 hours. She filed it on my behalf, and from then, it was just a waiting game… For months & months!
4. Waiting for The Examiner to Review
The USPTO (United States Patent & Trademark Office) takes its time assigning a case to an examiner attorney, because they get a ridiculous amount of applications every day and they are always behind. That’s why it takes so long to get someone assigned to the case, because they’re backed up with an overload of new applications since 2020. You just have to wait, hoping for no major hiccups.
5. Approval & Publication
If everything goes smoothly — with no confusion, and no objections from the examiner looking over your application, they’ll tentatively approve your application.
If the examiner sees potential conflicts or believes this trademark request will potentially have issue with someone else who’s already applied or received their trademark, then they will object and send the notice to the attorney you hired for review & consideration. Then your attorney then has the job of fighting (& hopefully winning) each potential objection until it is either approved or officially denied.
If your application is approved, it is published on the USPTO's Trademark Gazette (TMOG) This isn’t a glamorous magazine at your local newsstand or anything; more like a public notice board on the internet, but specifically for trademarks & the USPTO.
What that means is that for 30 days, the USPTO is stating that its own governing body has no issues with issuing your trademark, and is allowing registration. This 30 day period of publication in the Gazette is in place to allow anyone else who believes your trademark conflicts with their own, a full 30 days to come forward and state it or raise objections. At this point, since the Due Diligence research and the USPTO examining attorneys themselves found no other trademarks that potentially conflict with your trademark, any further objections are highly unlikely.
So, at this point, it’s basically approved ––IF due diligence research was done thoroughly, prior to application (and this is why that part is SO important).
No one had any objections to my application, so at the end of the 30-days, the USPTO awarded me my name trademark!
6. Getting the Final Trademark
After the Gazette period closed, my application was officially approved, and I received a thrilling but ugly-ass email that confirmed it. No fancy excitement—just a basic email saying, “Here’s your trademark registration number.” 🫠
Paige, however, like the wonderful human she is, sent me a well-deserved glass document plaque with my official trademark registration in it; it even had the gold seal on it. Much more official & attractive-looking!
In fact, if you look behind me on the shelf in my office, that is my proud little piece of protection for “Launch The Damn Thing®️” and the reason why I get to put the “Registered” R on my biz name.
What happens after you get the trademark?
Trademarking is Not a “One & Done” Thing
This part right here? SO important. 😬
Here’s what they don’t tell you: After you get your trademark, you’re not done. You have to keep your eye on the world around you and make sure no one else tries to use it. In other words, it’s on you to police it. If some sneaky upstart tries to use your name, and you want to hang onto your trademark, you’ve got to take action to stop them, whether it’s sending a cease & desist letter or whatever’s necessary to let them know they are infringing on your legally protected trademark.
Paige’s office even sent a little packet of information explaining how to can hire them to help with that when/if needed & even help me monitor the usage (if I remember correctly).
Also, trademarks need to be renewed every 10ish years. So, not only do you have to keep watch & police its use after obtaining it, you’ve also gotta keep it renewed with the USPTO to make sure it doesn’t lapse because if it does, it’s fair game for someone else that might want it!
My Thoughts on the Trademark Process
I won’t sugarcoat it — the process is long and tedious. Especially the waiting, that was the hardest part!
That said, for me it was 100% worth every penny and every minute waiting, because now I know that Launch The Damn Thing®️ is legally mine. No one else can legally park in my space with the same name.
Would I say this is necessary for every business? No, not strictly speaking, ––especially if you aren’t glued to the name & are not sure you want to keep it forever because it’s a lot of wait-time & money spent if you’re not (proverbially) married to it. But if your brand name is a crucial part of your business identity, like mine is, then yes — it’s (probably) a really smart move.
Just do yourself a favor for peace of mind, and don’t skip the legal expertise if you can swing it.
Questions? Let’s Chat!
Trademarks are a big topic, and I’m only here sharing what it was like as someone who’s been through it before, not as the legal expert that guided someone through the process. So, for more nuanced questions, definitely consult a legal expert.
That’s about all I’ve got on this topic! Thanks for hanging out with me, and if this post nudges you toward protecting your brand, mission accomplished! Let me know in the comments. 😁
