Trademark Goods and Services: How is it filed and how do the fees work?

To obtain federal rights (the strongest level of protection) for your brand, we trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, (“USPTO”). After we have conducted your trademark search and you have authorized us to move forward with the application, we need to know exactly which goods and services you are using the trademark in connection with.

The USPTO has a very extensive break down of goods and services categories. In fact the USPTO is extremely particular about the wording of the goods and services. General vague descriptions such as clothing, foods, or accessories for example, are not possible. Rather, a specific explanation of the type of clothing, i.e. “shirts and caps” is necessary.

Each class of goods and services are broken down into specific “classes” of goods and services. As of 2009, there are currently 45 classes of goods and services identified by the USPTO. Sometimes, within one class you may have a diverse range of goods and services.

Fees

The USPTO statutory fee for each class of goods and services is $325. Our firm only charges $525 for the legal work. So a trademark filing for a one class application is $850. A two class application would be $850 + $325 = $1175. A three class application would be $850 + $325 + $325 = $1500. Do not be scared by the prices, typically the majority of our clients will only have a one class application set at $850. However, please note, that once we have filled an application, you cannot add additional goods and services to it after the filing, so it is better to let us know in advance of all the goods and services you are using so we can file a multi-class application which will save you money.

You can however file a second application with the new goods and services. For example, Nike Inc. has well over one hundred trademark applications, for its “Nike” trademark for its different goods and services. U.S. Reg. 75977827 for “Nike” is for timepieces, namely, watches and chronographs. U.S. Reg. 74384105 for “Nike” is a two class application for book bags and notebooks.

Examples for Different Goods and Services

Clothing Lines

Clients starting clothing lines are one of our most popular requests for trademark applications. However, there is no class for just “clothing”. Rather, we must specifically identify exactly what type of clothing your trademark will be used in connection with. For example, “pants, t-shirts, sweaters, shoes” within Class 25. Further, clothing has specific requirements regarding the specimen used and how and where the trademark is placed on the clothing. Please see our discussion of the specimens and Statements of Use: http://www.patentlawip.com/statementofuse.html.

Foods

Again, there is no category for food. You must specifically tell us exactly how you are using the trademark in connection with what foods. For example, if you are selling/branding “energy drinks”, that will fall into Class 32. Further, most juices such as grape, apple, or orange juices also fall into Class 32. But alcoholic fruit mixes fall into Class 33, yet beer falls into Class 32. As a further, example, milk products fall into Class 29. So if you wanted to trademark alcoholic fruit mixers and energy drinks, it would be a two class application, and the fee would be the $850 + $325 = $1175. So as you can see, minor variations will change the class of goods and services.

The information above is only intended to convey the necessary specificity of the description of goods and services. When you retain us to file your application, based on our years of experience and your disclosure to us, you can be assured that we will file the most appropriate class of goods and services.

9025 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 301, Beverly Hills, CA 90211 Phone:310.288.4500 | Fax: 310.246.9980 | Website: www.patentlawip.com