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Trademark Registration Attorney

Clearance, USPTO applications, specimens, office action responses and registration maintenance for brand owners in the United States and Türkiye.

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Trademark Registration Attorney: USPTO Filing Lawyers

A federal trademark registration turns the name, logo or slogan your customers recognize into a nationwide legal asset you can enforce, license and record with U.S. Customs. Capitol Law Partners files and prosecutes trademark applications before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for founders, established brand owners and Turkish companies entering the U.S. market.

What a trademark registration attorney does for you

The form is short; the decisions behind it are not, and most cannot be undone after filing. We:

  • Run a clearance search and tell you plainly whether the mark is available.
  • Assess its strength and, where it is weak, help you choose one that can be protected.
  • Identify the correct owner, filing basis and classes, and draft the identification of goods and services.
  • Review specimens, file the application and answer any office action.
  • Handle publication, the Statement of Use and the maintenance and renewal calendar.

What a federal registration gives you

In the United States, trademark rights begin with use. An unregistered mark has common-law rights only where it is actually used and known. State registrations stop at the state line. A registration on the Principal Register under the Lanham Act gives you:

  • Nationwide priority and constructive notice. Your filing date becomes a nationwide constructive-use date, so later adopters anywhere in the country are junior to you and cannot claim good-faith adoption.
  • A presumption that the mark is valid, that you own it and that you have the exclusive right to use it for the listed goods and services. After five consecutive years of post-registration use it can become incontestable.
  • The ® symbol, which only a registered mark may carry. Before registration you use TM or SM.
  • Customs recordation, so U.S. Customs and Border Protection can detain counterfeit and infringing imports.
  • A basis for enforcement in federal court, in Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) proceedings and in marketplace brand registries.

What can and cannot be registered

The USPTO registers word marks, stylized words and logos, slogans, trade dress such as distinctive packaging, and non-traditional marks such as sounds and, with proof of acquired distinctiveness, colors. It refuses generic terms, which name the product itself; merely descriptive terms that immediately convey a quality or function of the goods, unless acquired distinctiveness is proven under Section 2(f); terms that are primarily merely a surname, with the same exception; deceptive matter; and marks likely to cause confusion with an earlier mark under Section 2(d).

Choosing a strong mark

Marks sit on a spectrum of distinctiveness. Fanciful marks are coined words; arbitrary marks are real words used in an unrelated context; suggestive marks hint at a quality but require imagination. All three are inherently distinctive and registrable. Descriptive terms register only after acquiring distinctiveness, and generic terms never. Descriptive names are harder to register and enforce, a trade-off we help you weigh before the brand is built.

Filing basis, classes and specimens

Use in commerce or intent to use

A Section 1(a) application rests on current use of the mark in U.S. commerce. A Section 1(b) application rests on a bona fide intention to use the mark and locks in a priority date before launch. After a 1(b) application clears publication, the USPTO issues a Notice of Allowance; you then have six months to file a Statement of Use or request a six-month extension, up to five times. Companies with a Turkish or other home-country registration may instead file under Section 44(e) or through the Madrid Protocol.

Nice classes and the identification

Goods and services fall into 45 international Nice classes, each with its own government fee. Too narrow an identification leaves parts of your business unprotected; too broad draws refusals and later non-use challenges. The USPTO's Identification Manual offers pre-approved wording that the current fee structure favors, so we draft from it wherever possible.

Specimens of use

A specimen shows the mark as actually used. For goods: labels, tags, packaging, product photographs, or a webpage showing the mark next to the goods with a way to order them. For services: advertising or website pages showing the mark with the services. Mock-ups and purely decorative uses are refused, and webpage specimens must show the URL and date of capture.

The registration process and timeline

  1. Clearance and a written availability opinion.
  2. Filing through the USPTO's electronic system. The USPTO has recently changed its filing platform and fees; we confirm current requirements at filing.
  3. Examination by an examining attorney several months after filing. Any office action must be answered within three months, with one three-month extension available.
  4. Publication in the Official Gazette, opening a thirty-day window to oppose or request more time.
  5. Registration for a use-based application, or a Notice of Allowance for an intent-to-use application, registering once the Statement of Use is accepted.
  6. Maintenance. A declaration of continued use is due between the fifth and sixth year, and a combined declaration and renewal every ten years.

A use-based application with no office action or opposition typically registers in roughly a year.

Principal Register or Supplemental Register

The Supplemental Register is for marks that can distinguish your goods but are not yet distinctive, usually descriptive terms and surnames. It permits the ® symbol, is cited against later confusingly similar applications and can support a federal suit, but it carries no presumption of validity and cannot become incontestable. It is often an interim step until a Section 2(f) filing becomes possible.

Foreign applicants need a U.S. attorney

Since August 2019, any applicant, registrant or TTAB party domiciled outside the United States must be represented by an attorney licensed in a U.S. state, and the application cannot proceed to registration until one appears. Capitol Law Partners serves as U.S. counsel for companies in Türkiye, coordinates with their Turkish trademark agents and handles the matter in English and Turkish through our Istanbul office.

Ownership, assignments and recordation

The applicant must be the party that controls the nature and quality of the goods or services, usually the operating company rather than the founder. An application filed in the wrong name, or before the entity exists, is void and cannot be cured by assignment, so we confirm ownership first, coordinating with our business formation practice when a new company is involved. Assignments must be in writing, must transfer the goodwill with the mark and should be recorded with the USPTO. An intent-to-use application may be assigned before use only to a successor of the applicant's business.

Common mistakes we help you avoid

  • Skipping clearance and learning of the conflict from a refusal.
  • Filing in the wrong owner's name, claiming use that has not begun, or submitting a mock-up as a specimen. False statements can invalidate the registration.
  • Over-broad identifications, premature use of ®, or missed response, Statement of Use or maintenance deadlines.
  • Overlooking copyright registration for logo artwork and trade secret protection for the know-how behind the brand.

Your trademark registration attorney

Cagatay Ersoy, founder and managing partner of Capitol Law Partners, is a graduate of Columbia Law School and advises brand owners on trademark clearance, registration and enforcement alongside the firm's business and immigration practices. Our attorneys and staff work in English, Turkish, Spanish, Portuguese and French. We serve trademark clients from Washington, DC, Herndon, Virginia, New York and Minneapolis, with an office in Istanbul, as part of our intellectual property practice.

Learn more about trademarks and IP

Start your trademark application

Send us the mark and a description of your goods or services. We will tell you whether it is available and what it would take to register. Schedule a consultation or call +1 (202) 440-2272.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to register my trademark to have rights in the United States?
No. Rights arise from using the mark in commerce, and an unregistered mark has common-law protection in the area where it is actually used and known. Federal registration adds nationwide priority, a legal presumption that the mark is valid and yours, constructive notice to the public, the right to use the ® symbol, customs recordation and a stronger footing for enforcement. For a brand that plans to grow, registration is the practical choice.
What is the difference between the TM symbol and the ® symbol?
TM (or SM for services) signals that you claim the term as a trademark. It requires no filing and can be used with any mark, registered or not. The ® symbol may be used only after the USPTO has issued a registration, and using it earlier is improper and can undermine later enforcement. Once the registration issues, using ® puts the public on notice and preserves your ability to recover certain remedies in an infringement case.
Should I file an intent-to-use application or wait until I am selling?
If you have chosen a name but have not launched, an intent-to-use application under Section 1(b) secures your priority date now and gives you up to three years after the Notice of Allowance to prove use. If you are already selling across state lines, a use-based application under Section 1(a) is simpler and skips the Statement of Use stage. We weigh timing, cost and competitive risk with you before choosing.
How long does it take to register a trademark with the USPTO?
Timing depends on the USPTO's workload and on whether your application draws an office action or an opposition. A clean use-based application typically registers in roughly a year from filing. Intent-to-use applications take longer because registration waits for the Statement of Use. Refusals, oppositions and extension requests each add months. We explain the realistic range for your case before you file.
Can a company in Türkiye register a trademark in the United States?
Yes. A Turkish company can file directly with the USPTO or extend an international registration to the United States through the Madrid Protocol. In either case, because the applicant is domiciled abroad, the USPTO requires representation by an attorney licensed in a U.S. state. Capitol Law Partners acts as U.S. counsel, advises on the best filing route and coordinates with your Turkish trademark agent through our Istanbul office.
How many classes should my application cover?
Only the classes that match goods and services you sell now or genuinely intend to sell soon. Each class carries its own government fee, and claiming goods you never offer invites refusals and later challenges for non-use. We map your current products, your realistic expansion plans and the classes where competitors are filing, then recommend a scope that protects the business without paying for coverage you cannot support.
Who should own the trademark, me or my company?
The applicant must be the party that controls the quality of the goods or services sold under the mark. For most businesses that is the operating company, not the founder. Filing in the wrong name makes the application void, and the defect cannot be fixed by assigning it later. If you are forming a company at the same time, we coordinate the timing so the entity exists before the application is filed in its name.
What do I have to do after the trademark registers?
Keep using the mark on the registered goods and services, use the ® symbol, and meet the maintenance deadlines. A declaration of continued use is due between the fifth and sixth year after registration, and a combined declaration and renewal is due every ten years. Missing these filings cancels the registration. We calendar the deadlines, prepare the filings and monitor the register for conflicting applications.