How to trademark a business name

Updated November 14, 2026

A trademark is a name, slogan or logo that tells customers who is behind a product or service. You start to own some rights just by using the name in business. Registering it with the federal government is what turns those rights into something you can prove and enforce across the whole country.

What registering gets you

Your claim is on the record. Anyone who searches before choosing a name will find yours, and most will pick something else.
Nationwide rights. Without registration, your rights are mostly limited to the places where you actually do business.
The right to use the ® symbol. Before you register you can use ™. The ® is for registered marks only.
Easier enforcement. A registration is strong evidence of your ownership if you ever have to stop a copycat, and it lets you use the federal courts.

The steps

Search first. Look for names that are the same or close, for the same or related kinds of goods and services. This is the step people skip, and the one that matters most.
Pick the right classes. The government sorts goods and services into numbered classes, and charges per class.
Decide who owns it. The application has to name the real owner. A mistake here can make the whole application void.
Use the government's approved wording for what you sell. Free-typed wording costs extra.
Say whether you are using it yet. If you are, you send a photo or screenshot of it in use. If not, you file on an "intent to use" basis and finish the paperwork later.
Pay the fee and wait. An examiner looks at it many months later. If there is a problem you get a letter, and you answer by the deadline.

What cannot be trademarked

A name that only describes what you sell, such as "Best Pizza" for a pizza place, is almost always refused. So are names that look too much like an existing mark, and names that suggest a government connection. For writing, art and music, see trademark, copyright or patent.

Source: the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's trademark information pages.

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This guide is general information, not legal advice. My Trademark Pro is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. We prepare your filing; you file it yourself on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website. The USPTO, not My Trademark Pro, decides whether to register a mark. Fees and rules are set by the USPTO and can change. Its website, uspto.gov, has the current ones.