Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Re: Trademark fees for trade name and website

The answer to your question depends upon a number of circumstances applicable to your situation. If you wish to register a trademark only in the state of California, the cost is $70 to file an application with the Secretary of State's office. (See http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/ts/ts_formsfees.htm

However, you mentioned you are planning to operate a website. Generally, if you are selling/offering your services via a website to residents of other US states (and throughout the world?), it is generally recommended that you file for a federal trademark. The cost of this depends on the number of goods and/or services classes applicable to your proposed registration and/or whether you wish to conduct any type of trademark availability search prior to submitting an application. General information on U.S. trademarks can be found at www.uspto.gov The U.S. Trademark Office currently charges $325.00 per class for a standard trademark application filing under section 1(a) [A "use" based application as opposed to a section 1(b) "intent to use" filing basis.]

You can do either of the above yourself, but you may wish to consult with an intellectual property attorney to determine the best course of action for your particular circumstances and to discuss any potential pitfalls you will want to avoid. I am also available should you wish to discuss your question and my response further.

Good luck.

Re: Trademark fees for trade name and website

The USPTO Web site is not the most intuitive in the World, but it is possible for a non-lawyer to file his/her own trademark application for a $325 non-refundable processing fee. Before starting the on-line application process, read all the directions and be sure you know the classification number of the product or service your proposed trademark will cover, e.g. "wine" "employment agency" etc.

You can apply on either a "use in interstate commerce" or an "intent to use" basis.

Common, non-distinctive words and groups of words cannot be trademarked. The USPTO is especially critical of applications consisting of common everyday words run together without spaces and followed by ".com." - for example, "datingforbusyprofessionals.com" would be rejected as a trademark.

You won't know whether your application is acepted or rejected until months after applying and paying.

Re: Trademark fees for trade name and website

I suggest that you don't try to file a trademark on your own. A lot of my trademark business comes from people who tried to file on their own, got an office action from the USPTO (when the trademark office requests additional information), and then were stuck with no one to ask. The fee I charge to do the entire trademark is about the same that I charge to fix an improperly filed trademark. Give me a call, mention law guru, and I will give you a good rate on the legal portion of the fee (note that the filing fee by itself is $325.00). Also, you should definitely reserve your domain name at the same time because there are still sneaky people out there that look for newly filed trademarks and buy the names so that they can re-sell them. Finding out if your name is already registered is part of our service. My number is 818.973.2731.