Trademarks for founders and new brands
You picked a name. You've probably already bought the domain, made a logo, and started telling people. Now someone has asked whether you can actually use it. Here's a straight answer, and what it costs to find out — from Loop Litigation, flat-fee trademark clearance and registration for founders. Chicago-based, working nationwide.
Founder's Brand Package — $2,495 plus USPTO filing fees
A full clearance search, a written opinion from a lawyer on whether the name is worth building on, and your federal application prepared and filed in one class. Just the search, with the opinion, is $950.
Why the name matters more than founders expect
A trademark isn't a formality you handle after the raise. It's the one asset that gets harder and more expensive to fix the longer you wait.
The bad version goes like this. You build for two years. You get traction. Then a letter arrives from a company that registered a similar mark before you launched, and your options are to fight it, license it, or rebrand — after you've printed the packaging, built the brand equity, and put the name on twelve thousand customer accounts. Rebranding a company with traction routinely costs more than a decade of trademark work.
The good version takes a week and costs less than a month of your cloud bill.
What a clearance search actually protects you from
Most founders check the USPTO database, find nothing, and conclude the name is clear. It isn't, and the reason is that federal registration isn't the only thing that can stop you.
A real clearance search looks at:
- Federal registrations and pending applications — including marks that aren't identical but are close enough to block you
- Common-law use — businesses using a name without ever registering it. They can still have rights, and in their region those rights can beat yours
- State registrations and business names
- Domains, social handles, and app store listings — how the name is actually being used in the market
And then a lawyer reads it. That's the part that matters. A search report is fifty pages of results with no conclusion. What you need is someone telling you: this one's fine, this one's a problem, and here's why.
When to file
Earlier than you think. The question isn't whether you're ready — it's whether someone else files first.
You don't have to be selling yet. If you have a genuine intent to use the name in commerce, you can file an intent-to-use application and lock in your priority date while you build.
Practical timing:
- Before you print anything — packaging, signage, or anything with a lead time
- Before you announce — a launch is when copycats find out the name exists
- Before you raise — see below
What investors will ask for
Diligence on an early round will ask whether you own your name. What they're checking:
- Is there a federal application or registration, and is it in the company's name — not a founder's personal name, and not the agency that designed the logo
- Was clearance done before launch, or are you sitting on an unexamined risk
- Does the registration cover what you actually sell, in the right classes
- Are there outstanding conflicts, oppositions, or cease-and-desist letters
A missing or defective trademark rarely kills a deal. It does become a diligence item, a rep and warranty, and occasionally a holdback. It's a cheap problem to not have.
Amazon, app stores, and platform enforcement
If you sell on a platform, registration does something registration doesn't do anywhere else: it gives you a takedown button.
Amazon Brand Registry requires a registered or pending trademark and, once you're in, lets you remove counterfeit and infringing listings in days rather than months. Apple's App Store, Google Play, Meta, Etsy, and Shopify all run similar programs.
For a consumer brand, this is frequently the single most valuable practical benefit of registration — more than the right to sue, which most early-stage companies will never exercise.
What it costs
Founder's Brand Package — $2,495 plus USPTO filing fees
Everything it takes to go from a name you like to a federal application on file:
- A full clearance search — not just the USPTO database, but the common-law and business-name uses that can block you later
- A written opinion from a lawyer telling you, plainly, whether the name is worth building on
- Your federal application, prepared and filed in one class
- Handling of routine correspondence from the USPTO examining attorney
Just the search — $950
If you only want to know whether a name is clear before you spend money on it, we'll run the search and give you a written opinion. No obligation to file with us.
Everything else is quoted flat, before we start. Office action responses, statements of use, renewals, monitoring, demand letters, oppositions.
Why not a filing service
Filing services are cheaper and they work fine when the name is genuinely clear and nothing goes wrong.
The difference shows up when something does. A filing service will file whatever you type in. It will not tell you that the mark you chose is descriptive and will be refused. It will not tell you that a company in Ohio has been using something close for nine years. It will not read the refusal you get eight months later and tell you whether to fight it or start over.
We'll tell you when not to file. That advice is worth more than the filing.
And if it turns into a fight
Most trademarks never do. Some do — a copycat launches, a competitor opposes your application, or a letter shows up demanding you stop.
If that happens, you don't have to go find a litigator. You already have one. That's the whole reason this practice sits inside a litigation firm.
Common questions
How much does it cost to trademark a name?
Our Founder's Brand Package is $2,495 plus USPTO filing fees: a full clearance search, a written attorney opinion on whether the name is worth building on, and your federal application prepared and filed in one class. If you only want to know whether a name is clear, the search and written opinion alone are $950. Everything after that — office action responses, statements of use, renewals, oppositions — is quoted flat before we start.
Is searching the USPTO database enough to know a name is clear?
No. Federal registration isn't the only thing that can stop you. A business using a name without ever registering it can still have rights, and in its region those rights can beat yours. A real clearance search also covers state registrations and business names, and how the name is actually being used in domains, social handles and app store listings. Then a lawyer reads the results and tells you which conflicts matter.
When should a startup file a trademark application?
Earlier than you think. The question isn't whether you're ready — it's whether someone else files first. You don't have to be selling yet: with a genuine intent to use the name in commerce you can file an intent-to-use application and lock in your priority date while you build. Practically, file before you print anything with a lead time, before you announce, and before you raise.
Do I need a lawyer, or can I use a filing service?
Filing services are cheaper and they work fine when the name is genuinely clear and nothing goes wrong. The difference shows up when something does. A filing service will file whatever you type in. It will not tell you that the mark you chose is descriptive and will be refused, that a company in Ohio has been using something close for nine years, or whether to fight a refusal that arrives eight months later. We'll tell you when not to file.
Why does a trademark matter for selling on Amazon or an app store?
Registration gives you a takedown button. Amazon Brand Registry requires a registered or pending trademark and, once you're in, lets you remove counterfeit and infringing listings in days rather than months. Apple's App Store, Google Play, Meta, Etsy and Shopify all run similar programs. For a consumer brand this is frequently the single most valuable practical benefit of registration.
What will investors ask about our trademark?
Whether there is a federal application or registration, and whether it is in the company's name — not a founder's personal name, and not the agency that designed the logo. Whether clearance was done before launch. Whether the registration covers what you actually sell, in the right classes. And whether there are outstanding conflicts, oppositions or cease-and-desist letters.
Start here
Tell us the name and what you're planning to sell. We'll tell you what we'd do and what it costs — before you commit to anything.
Get in touch · info@looplitigation.com · (312) 949-5667
More on the full trademark practice: Trademarks.