Trademark Attorney

A trademark is the name, logo or slogan that tells customers a product comes from you, and trademark law is the set of rules that decide who gets to use it. Capitol Law Partners handles the full life of a mark for founders, established brand owners and Turkish companies entering the U.S. market: clearing the name before you commit to it, registering it with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), answering the examiner, keeping the registration alive, extending it abroad and enforcing it against copycats. This page explains how those services fit together and which one you need now.

Trademark services in the order a brand owner needs them

The services below follow the sequence a brand actually moves through.

1. Trademark search and clearance

In the United States, rights come from use, not registration, so a company that has used a similar name for years without filing can still block your application or sue. Our trademark search and clearance service runs a knockout search to eliminate obvious conflicts, then a comprehensive search of federal and state registers, common-law uses, business names, domains and social handles, and delivers a written opinion with a risk rating. Clear two or three candidate names before anyone designs a logo.

2. Trademark registration

A registration on the Principal Register gives you nationwide priority from the filing date, a legal presumption that you own a valid mark, the right to use the ® symbol, recordation with U.S. Customs and a basis for enforcement in federal court and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Our trademark registration service chooses the correct owner, filing basis and classes, drafts the identification of goods and services, reviews specimens and carries the application through publication to registration.

3. Office action responses

If the examining attorney finds a problem, the USPTO issues an office action, and the response deadline is short and firm. Our trademark office action response service answers likelihood of confusion, descriptiveness, surname, specimen and ornamental refusals with evidence rather than opinion, satisfies the procedural requirements in the same filing, and handles reconsideration, appeals and petitions to revive an abandoned application, including applications first filed without a lawyer.

4. Renewal, maintenance and international registration

A registration must be maintained with a declaration of continued use between the fifth and sixth year, then a combined declaration and renewal between the ninth and tenth year and every ten years after that. Miss the window and its grace period and the registration is gone. Our trademark renewal and international registration service dockets those deadlines, answers USPTO post-registration audits, records assignments and licenses, and extends protection abroad through the Madrid Protocol or direct national filings.

5. Enforcement and TTAB proceedings

A registration is only as valuable as your willingness to defend it. Our trademark enforcement and TTAB proceedings service runs watch services, sends and answers cease-and-desist letters, files and defends oppositions and cancellations before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, uses expungement and reexamination to clear unused blocking registrations, pursues domain name and marketplace takedowns, and litigates Lanham Act claims in federal court.

Which trademark service do you need?

You are choosing a name for a company, product or line. Start with search and clearance, before the logo, the domain and the packaging.
You have a name and want to protect it. File a USPTO application, on a use basis if you are already selling or an intent-to-use basis if launch is ahead.
You received a letter from the USPTO. It is an office action, not a denial, and the clock is running. See office action responses.
Your registration is approaching its fifth or tenth anniversary. A maintenance filing is due. See renewal and maintenance.
Someone is copying your mark, or you have been accused of copying theirs. See enforcement and TTAB proceedings.
You are expanding abroad, or bringing a foreign brand into the United States. See Madrid Protocol and international registration.

Copyright, trade secrets and IP litigation

Trademarks protect the signs that identify your business. Other rights protect what the business makes and knows. Copyright registration covers logo artwork, website content, software, photographs and marketing copy, and registration is a prerequisite to suing for infringement of a U.S. work. Trade secret protection covers formulas, customer lists, processes and other confidential information through agreements, access controls and, when needed, claims under the Defend Trade Secrets Act. When a dispute spans several of these rights, our IP litigation and dispute resolution team handles it as one matter. The full practice is described on our intellectual property law hub.

For founders and Turkish businesses

Two rules catch new brand owners by surprise. First, the applicant must be the party that controls the quality of the goods or services, usually the company rather than the founder, and an application filed in the wrong name is void. We coordinate the trademark filing with our business formation and structuring practice so the entity exists and owns the mark from the start. Second, since 2019 every applicant, registrant or TTAB party domiciled outside the United States must be represented by an attorney licensed in a U.S. state, and the USPTO will not register the mark until one appears. Capitol Law Partners serves as U.S. counsel for companies in Türkiye, works with their Turkish trademark agents, aligns TÜRKPATENT and USPTO filings to preserve Paris Convention priority, and handles the matter in Turkish and English through our Istanbul office.

Your trademark 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, maintenance 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 nationwide from our offices in Washington, DC, Herndon, Virginia, New York and Minneapolis, with an office in Istanbul.

Learn more about trademarks and IP

Talk to a trademark attorney

Whether you are naming a company, holding an office action or watching a competitor use your brand, send us the mark and a short description of your goods or services. We will tell you which service fits and what it would take. 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, so an unregistered mark has common-law protection in the area where it is actually used and known. A federal registration adds nationwide priority from the filing date, a legal presumption that the mark is valid and yours, the right to use the ® symbol, and access to U.S. Customs recordation and marketplace brand registries. Most businesses that plan to grow should register.

What is the difference between TM and the ® symbol?

TM, or SM for services, signals that you claim a term or logo as a trademark and can be used at any time, registered or not. The ® symbol may be used only after the USPTO issues a registration, and using it earlier is improper and can undermine later enforcement. We advise clients on when to switch and on how to mark goods, packaging and websites correctly.

How long does it take to register a trademark with the USPTO?

A use-based application that draws no office action or opposition typically registers in roughly a year, and an intent-to-use application registers only after you begin use and file a Statement of Use. An office action, an opposition or a suspension behind an earlier application can add months. We set expectations at filing and track each deadline so the application is never abandoned for lack of a response.

Does a U.S. trademark registration protect my brand in other countries?

No. Trademark rights are territorial, and a USPTO registration protects the mark only in the United States. To protect it abroad you file an international application through the Madrid Protocol based on your U.S. application or registration, or file directly in each country. Most foreign systems grant rights to the first party to file, so foreign filings should precede your launch in that market.

I received an office action from the USPTO. What should I do?

Read the issue date first, because the response deadline is short and a missed deadline abandons the application. Then send us the office action and your serial number. We identify which issues are refusals and which are requirements, gather the evidence the response needs and file a complete answer. We also take over applications that were filed without a lawyer or through an online filing service.

How often does a U.S. trademark registration need to be renewed?

A declaration of continued use is due between the fifth and sixth anniversary of registration, and a combined declaration and renewal is due between the ninth and tenth anniversary and every ten years after that. Each deadline has a six-month grace period with an additional fee; after the grace period the registration is cancelled and cannot be revived. We docket these dates for every client registration.

Can a company based in Turkey register a trademark in the United States?

Yes. A Turkish company can file directly with the USPTO or designate the United States through a Madrid Protocol international registration based on its TÜRKPATENT mark. Either way, an applicant domiciled outside the United States must be represented by an attorney licensed in a U.S. state. Capitol Law Partners acts as U.S. counsel, coordinates with your Turkish agent and handles the matter in Turkish and English.

What should I do if someone is using my trademark?

Do not send a letter before you know both sides' rights. We compare priority of use, registration status and the goods involved, then choose the tool that fits: a cease-and-desist letter, a letter of protest or opposition at the USPTO, a cancellation, expungement or reexamination petition, a domain name complaint, a marketplace takedown or a Lanham Act lawsuit in federal court.

Drop us a message today!

Trademark Attorney: Trademark Law Services for Brand Owners