Trust Tree’s Definitive Guide for Not Screwing Up Your Trademark

Introduction

• Why did we make this guide?
• Why you should care about trademarks
• The difference between copyrights, patents, and trademarks
• Roadmap to a successful trademark strategy

Coming up with a trademark

• Branding basics
• Trademarks types
• Trademark distinctiveness
• How to pick a company name

Trademark searches

• Introduction to trademark searching
• How to search a logo for free
• How to search a word trademark for free

Register your trademark

• Should you register your trademark?
• How much does it cost to get a trademark registration?
• Trademark registration process flowchart
• How to file your trademark registration for free (and why you shouldn’t)
• How to complete the application for a trademark at the USPTO
• The Principal and Supplemental trademark registers
• Office Action Response Guide
• Can you trademark a person’s name?

Maintain your trademark

• Trademark maintenance basics

Use your trademark

• Proper trademark use
• How to claim your name on social media
• Registering trademarks with Customs and Border Patrol
• Trademark scams
• Amazon Brand Registry in 5 Steps

Enforce your trademark

• Cease and desist letters

Trademarks in practice

• How to protect product packaging with trademarks

Trademark resources

• Trademark Manual of Examining Procedures (TMEP)
• Electronic System for Trademark Trials and Appeals (ESTTA)
• Goods and Services ID Manual
• International Trademark Association's (INTA) Public Resources
• Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)
• Trademark Status Document Retrieval (TSDR)
• USPTO Employee Directory
• USPTO Online Forms
• Trademark terminology
• International Classification of Goods and Services