Any lawyer in good standing with the bar of one US state can file your trademark application, so the pool of candidates is large and uneven. The best trademark attorney for a small business is one who files trademark applications every month, quotes a clear flat fee for each stage, and tells you plainly when a name is too risky to file. Twelve questions on a first call will sort most candidates, and free public records will show whether the one you like is licensed and has a clean history.
How to Find the Best Trademark Attorney for a Small Business
You find candidates through referrals from other business owners, your state or local bar association’s referral service, and attorney directories that let you filter by practice area and location. Then you interview two or three of them and compare them on volume, pricing, and candor.
An attorney who files trademark applications every month knows how examiners read a goods and services description and which refusals are likely for your kind of name. A general business lawyer who files two a year may do fine work, but you pay for the learning curve.
Look for pricing that matches the work. Filing work is usually sold at a flat fee per stage, and a small business should expect a written quote for the search, the application, and the most likely follow-up filings. The article on trademark attorney fees and what they include has typical ranges for each stage.
On the first call, a useful attorney will tell you when your name is weak, when you need a second class, or when you could file yourself. If you are unsure what work to hand off, the guide to what a trademark attorney does breaks down the tasks.
12 Questions to Ask Before You Hire
Ask every candidate the same questions so you can compare the answers side by side.
- How many trademark applications do you file in a typical year? Ask for a number and for the share of their practice that is trademark work.
- Have you handled marks in my industry? Food, apparel, and software brands file in crowded classes, and an attorney who knows yours can spot likely conflicts faster.
- Which state bar licenses you, and what is your bar number? The USPTO tells applicants to check that number with the state bar online.
- Will you run a clearance search before filing, and what kind? A knockout search checks federal records for close matches. A full search also covers state registrations and unregistered use, and comes with a written opinion. The guide to a trademark clearance search explains the difference.
- What does your flat fee cover, and what costs extra? Ask about additional classes, office action responses, the Statement of Use, and extension requests.
- Are USPTO fees included in your quote? Many quotes list only the legal fee, and the USPTO charges its own fee per class on top.
- What happens if the examiner refuses the application? Ask whether a response to a refusal on the merits is included or billed separately, and at what price.
- Who will do the work? The attorney you speak with may hand the file to an associate or a paralegal. You should know who drafts the application and who signs it.
- How will you describe my goods and services? A good answer mentions the USPTO’s ID Manual and how a narrow or broad description affects both approval and protection.
- How long will it take, and how will you keep me updated? Ask how often you will get status reports and how fast they return emails.
- What happens after registration? Ask whether they docket maintenance deadlines and what the first renewal filing costs.
- Would you recommend I file this one myself? An attorney who says yes for a simple, clearly available mark is giving you advice that costs them a fee. The article on whether you can trademark a name for free covers when filing alone works and when it backfires.
Write the answers down during each call, because two quotes a few hundred dollars apart can cover very different amounts of work.
Red Flags in a Proposal or First Call
The USPTO lists several claims that filing companies make to mislead applicants, and a few of them show up in attorney pitches too. Any of these should end the conversation:
- A promise that your mark will register. No one controls the examiner’s decision.
- A claim to be “approved by the USPTO” or able to speed up examination. The USPTO does not endorse or partner with private firms.
- A request for your USPTO.gov account password. The USPTO warns applicants never to share it, and an attorney files under their own account.
- An offer of legal advice from “specialists” or “agents” who are not attorneys. Only a US-licensed attorney can give legal advice on your trademark.
- A quote that will not say what is excluded, or pressure to sign the same day.
- No search at all, with a firm answer on whether the name is available.
A cheap quote that leaves out the search and every office action response often costs more in the end, because a refusal can force you to pay for a response or start over with a new name.
Local Attorney vs. Online or Remote Attorney
The attorney does not need to be in your state. The USPTO lets any active member in good standing of the highest court of any US state, the District of Columbia, or a US commonwealth or territory represent you in trademark matters. Trademark attorneys need no separate USPTO registration or exam to do this work.
That makes a remote attorney a practical choice for most federal trademark work. The application, the office actions, and the USPTO’s correspondence are all handled online, and many trademark attorneys work with clients in every state by phone and email.
Online trademark attorneys are legitimate when a licensed attorney does the legal work and signs the filings. The USPTO requires any person or company that files and registers trademarks for others to be a US-licensed attorney, and it notes that many online filing companies are not affiliated with one. Before you pay an online service, get the name and bar number of the attorney who will handle your file.
A local attorney can make more sense in two situations. If a dispute goes to court, your lawyer needs admission to the court that hears the case. If you want one lawyer for contracts, leases, and your trademark, a local business attorney who also files trademarks may be simpler, as long as they pass the volume question above.
Checking Credentials and Bar Status
A credential check takes a few minutes and uses three free public databases.
| What to check | Where to check it | What you learn |
|---|---|---|
| License and good standing | The website of the state bar or licensing agency that issued the license | Whether the license is active, plus public discipline in most states |
| USPTO discipline | The USPTO Office of Enrollment and Discipline FOIA reading room | Public decisions against patent and trademark practitioners, searchable by name |
| Trademark filing history | USPTO Trademark Search, using the attorney of record field | Applications and registrations where the attorney is listed as counsel |
Start with the state bar. Most state bars have an online lookup, and many show discipline on the attorney’s profile. The State Bar of California’s attorney search, for example, shows license status along with disciplinary and administrative history.
Next, search the attorney’s name in the USPTO’s list of Office of Enrollment and Discipline decisions. The office investigates misconduct by practitioners who appear before the USPTO, and it posts its public disciplinary and reinstatement decisions with the practitioner’s name and the decision date.
Last, look up the attorney’s own filings. In USPTO Trademark Search, the “AT:” field tag, or “Attorney of Record” in the field menu, returns applications where that attorney is listed. Look for live registrations in classes close to yours. A record full of abandoned applications is worth a question on your next call.
What to Prepare Before the First Call
Bring these facts to the first call so the attorney can give you a real scope and price:
- The exact name, logo, or slogan you want to protect, in the form you will use it.
- A plain list of what you sell or plan to sell, including anything you expect to add in the next few years.
- The date you first used the name in commerce, if you have started selling, and where you sell.
- Any similar names you have already found online or in the USPTO database.
- Your budget and whether you need to file quickly, such as before a product launch.
- Any letters or messages from another business about the name.
With those facts, a trademark attorney can tell you on the first call how many classes you likely need, whether a full search is worth the cost, and what the total should run. When you are ready to compare candidates, you can search trademark attorneys in the directory by location and services.