The Trademark Process

1. The applicant fills out and submits the trademark order form on our website.

2. The order form requests specific information. Quick Incorporators will complete your trademark application with the information you provide.

3. Quick Incorporators then forwards the completed Trademark Registration application     back to you with easy next-step instructions.

4. You then forward the Trademark Registration application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) using the instructions provided, along with payment for the required application fee.

5. The USPTO will assign the application a serial number and send you, the applicant, a receipt by email and/or by U.S. Mail.

6. The USPTO will review your application and determine whether the mark may be registered. If the examining attorney determines that the mark cannot be registered, the examining attorney will issue a letter listing any grounds for refusal and any corrections required in the application. The examining attorney may contact you by e-mail if only minor corrections are required. You must respond to any objections within six months of the mailing date of the letter, or the application will be abandoned. If your response does not overcome all objections, the examining attorney will issue a final refusal.

7. If there are no objections, or if you overcome all objections, the examining attorney will approve the mark for publication in the Official Gazette. The USPTO will send you NOTICE OF PUBLICATION indicating the date of publication. In the case of two or more applications for similar marks, the USPTO will publish the application with the earliest effective filing date first.

8. Receive Registration Certificate

·         If the application was based upon the actual use of the mark in commerce prior to approval for publication, the USPTO will register the mark and issue a registration certificate about 12 weeks after the date the mark was published, if no opposition was filed.

·         If, instead, the mark was published based upon the applicant's statement of having a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce, the USPTO will issue a NOTICE OF ALLOWANCE about 12 weeks after the date the mark was published, again provided no opposition was filed. You then have six months from the date of the NOTICE OF ALLOWANCE to either: (1) use the mark in commerce and submit a STATEMENT OF USE, or (2) request a six-month EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE A STATEMENT OF USE. If the STATEMENT OF USE is filed and approved, the USPTO will then issue the registration certificate.