Trademarks

Your business name, logo, and slogan are assets that need protection like any other. A trademark is what stops a competitor from trading on the reputation you have built, and federal registration is what gives that protection its full strength. Using a name does create some rights on its own, but those rights are limited and often weaker than owners expect.

Fisher Stone handles trademark clearance, federal registration, and enforcement for businesses across New York City, for a flat fee, quoted up front, with a licensed New York attorney working your matter from start to finish. You get a clearance search before you file anything, a properly classified application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and direct access to the attorney handling your case by call, email, or text. No call centers, no handoffs, no guessing where your application stands.

What a trademark protects

A trademark is any word, phrase, symbol, logo, or combination of these that identifies the source of a product or service and distinguishes it from competitors. For most businesses that means the company name, a product or service name, a logo, or a tagline used in marketing. What matters legally is the connection customers make between that mark and your business, not the words or design on their own.

Trademark protection matters most once a business has built some recognition. A new company with an unused name has little to protect yet. A company whose customers already associate a name or logo with its reputation has something worth defending, and worth registering before a competitor claims a similar mark first. If you are still choosing a name or launching your company, our business formation service can help you clear and protect the brand at the same time you form the entity.

Common-law, state, and federal trademarks

Trademark rights come from three different sources in the United States, and they are not equally strong.

Common-law rights arise automatically the moment you use a name or logo in commerce, with no filing required. They only cover the specific geographic area where you have actually done business, so a competitor using the same name elsewhere may have an equal claim there. Common-law rights do not permit the (R) symbol, and they are the hardest and most expensive to enforce, since you have to prove your use and territory every time a dispute comes up.

New York state registration gives you a public record of your claim and extends your presumed rights across the state, stronger than common-law protection but still limited to New York. It suits a business that operates only within the state, though it does not protect the mark anywhere else and, like common-law rights, does not permit use of the (R) symbol.

Federal registration through the USPTO gives you the strongest protection available. A federally registered mark is presumed valid nationwide, not just where you currently do business, which matters once a business sells online, ships across state lines, or plans to expand. Federal registration is also the only one of the three that allows use of the (R) symbol, and it gives access to federal court and stronger remedies for enforcement. Businesses can use the TM symbol before registration is complete, to signal a claim while the application is pending.

How federal trademark registration works

Registering a trademark follows a set process with the USPTO, and skipping steps or filing incorrectly causes most applications to stall or get rejected.

Clearance search

Before filing anything, we search the USPTO database, state trademark records, and common business-use sources to see whether your proposed name or logo conflicts with a mark that already exists. A thorough clearance search catches problems while they are still cheap to fix, before you have paid a filing fee or built a brand around a name you may not be able to keep.

Application

The application identifies your mark, the goods or services it covers, and the basis for your claim, whether you are already using the mark or intend to soon. We prepare and file it with the USPTO on your behalf and confirm the details with you first.

Class selection

Trademarks are registered within specific classes of goods or services, and the right class, or classes, determines what your registration actually covers. A mark registered only for clothing does not protect you if a competitor uses a similar name for restaurant services. We identify the correct class so the registration matches what you actually sell.

Examination and office actions

A USPTO examining attorney reviews every application for conflicts with existing marks and compliance with the agency’s requirements. If the examiner has a concern, the USPTO issues an office action, a written objection requiring a response by a set deadline. Office actions are common and do not necessarily mean an application will fail, but missing the deadline can mean it is abandoned. We handle these responses as part of your registration.

Registration

Once the examiner approves the application and it clears the USPTO’s publication period without a successful challenge, the mark is registered. At that point you can use the (R) symbol, and your registration becomes part of the public record establishing your nationwide claim.

Keeping and enforcing your trademark

Registration is not the end of the process. A trademark has to be maintained and, when necessary, defended, or the protection it offers starts to erode. The USPTO requires registered owners to file maintenance documents at set intervals, and missing a deadline can result in cancellation, so we track these deadlines for our clients.

Monitoring the marketplace for infringement matters just as much. A trademark that is not enforced against copycats can weaken over time, and a court is less likely to protect a mark the owner has not defended consistently. When we identify a conflicting name or logo, we can send a cease-and-desist letter laying out the client’s rights and demanding that the infringing use stop. Most disputes resolve at that stage.

This ongoing protection matters at every stage. A startup building a brand from scratch needs to clear and register a mark before competitors do, while an established business has more value at stake if a registration lapses or a copycat goes unaddressed. For businesses managing trademarks alongside contracts and other ongoing needs, see our broader running a business service, or return to the Business Law hub for the full range of services we handle.

When to register

The best time to register a trademark is before you have invested heavily in a name, not after. Clearing a name early avoids the cost of rebranding if it turns out to conflict with an existing mark, and filing early establishes your priority date, which matters if another business later tries to register something similar. Waiting gives competitors more time to adopt a conflicting name first, and it can leave a business with real customers and revenue holding only common-law rights if a dispute comes up.