Trademark and IP-related news for the legal professionals

All US trademarks are built on use in commerce. To prove it, applicants must submit a specimen showing the mark in use and sign a declaration under oath confirming that the use is genuine. This is often treated as a formality because USPTO examiners do not verify the declared use. Instead, they rely on the sworn declaration. This is where the distinction between bona fide use and token use comes in place, and here’s what you need to know:

When applicants receive a likelihood of confusion refusal, they disregard it because their brand name doesn’t look or sound identical to the cited mark. The reaction makes sense, but it also comes from a misunderstanding of how the USPTO evaluates likelihood of confusion. The analysis doesn’t just look at formal/phonetic similarities, but rather asks whether consumers encountering both brands in the marketplace are likely to be confused about the source. If it seems like an arbitrary difference, let us explain.

A data-driven look at where 172,000 annual trademark filings land, and what it means for your brand.

What over 500,000 annual trademark filings reveal about your real odds before you spend a dollar on registration.

When applicants file a trademark application with the USPTO, they are required to identify the goods and services their mark will cover. That identification defines the scope of protection the trademark will provide, and as of 2025, it also directly determines what the applicant pays. A new fee structure introduced by the USPTO imposes financial surcharges on applicants who use free-form, custom-written descriptions rather than pre-approved language from the USPTO's ID Manual. Understanding how these fees work, and how to structure an application to minimize them, is now a necessary part of preparing any trademark filing.

Getting a trademark registered in 2026 is harder than ever before, and the trend is not likely to reverse because it’s structural rather than procedural. Here’s what you need to know about registering trademarks with the USPTO, along with what you can do to maximize your chances of success.

Amazon Brand Registry gives select Amazon sellers the ability to report counterfeits, control listings, detect infringements, enhance their content, and access brand analytics. These tools make it much easier to maximize your growth on the platform. The only problem is that ABR access requires a registered or pending trademark from an accepted IP office. This has shaped how Amazon sellers approach trademark filings, but not in a way that serves their long-term interests. 

Business owners file generic or descriptive marks daily without realizing these marks are not eligible for the Principal Register. When a descriptiveness refusal is issued, amending the application to the Supplemental Register is considered the next best step. While this might be true for some, it is not a substitute for Principal Register protection, and in this article, we explain why.

Pre-launch businesses can use the USPTO’s intent-to-use (ITU) application option to file for trademark protection before they’ve begun commercially using their brand. This is one of the most strategically useful options for businesses that seek protection before they launch. However, ITU applications don’t offer the same protection as actual registrations, and they come with frequently underestimated obligations. In this article, we outline everything you need to know.

When coming up with brand names, most founders believe that clarity is an advantage. A name that tells consumers what the business does, how good its products are, or how well it operates feels like a nobrainer. Under US trademark law, that natural instinct produces brand names that get refused after examination. Read on to learn why.