How to save money on trademark fees?

Asked by: Nicola Nitzsche  |  Last update: February 15, 2026
Score: 4.8/5 (50 votes)

Saving money on trademark fees, particularly with the USPTO, involves using the TEAS Plus filing option ($250 per class) rather than TEAS Standard ($350 per class), conducting a thorough preliminary search to avoid rejected applications, and strictly limiting goods/services to one class. Filing online and managing maintenance yourself also reduces costs.

What is the cheapest way to trademark?

DIY filing is the cheapest way to get a trademark, but it's not risk-free.

Can you write off trademark fees?

If you pay franchise, trademark, or trade names fees, these costs generally are considered deductible business expenses. Entrepreneurs who launch entirely new businesses may incur tradename or trademark fees as they attempt to uniquely identify their business and / or their products.

What is a poor man's trademark?

A poor man's trademark, in simple terms, is when a person mails to themselves in an envelope their underlying artwork or name they wish to trademark to themselves using the United States Postal Service.

Is it better to trademark or LLC?

An LLC (Limited Liability Company) creates a legal business structure that separates personal and business assets for liability protection, while a trademark protects your brand identity (name, logo, slogan) to prevent consumer confusion, with an LLC being the foundation and a trademark securing your brand's unique identifiers, serving different but complementary roles in business formation and protection. You usually form the LLC first as the legal entity and then register a trademark to protect your specific brand name and logo used within that business. 

How to File a Trademark in 2025 | Low Cost (Step-by-Step)

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Can I put a trademark under my LLC?

If you have an LLC, it's definitely possible to trademark your business name, and it's often a great idea! While registering your business as an LLC keeps other businesses in your state from using your business name, you can more fully protect your brand from copycats by registering a trademark.

What names to avoid for LLC?

You should avoid LLC names that are misleading, offensive, too similar to existing brands, or use restricted words like "Bank," "Trust," or "Insurance" without proper licensing; also steer clear of implying government affiliation or illegal activity and names that are hard to spell or remember, as these can cause legal issues, confusion, or hinder branding.
 

What is the 3 month rule for copyright?

The "copyright 3 month rule" refers to a key deadline for U.S. copyright registration: you must register your work within three months of its first publication (or before infringement begins) to be eligible to claim statutory damages and attorney's fees in a copyright infringement lawsuit, which can be crucial for remedies beyond just an injunction. Failing to meet this deadline means you generally can only sue for actual damages (harder to prove) if infringement occurs, but registration is still vital for other benefits and to sue at all, notes Donahue Fitzgerald LLP and Cotman IP. 

What is the rule 47 of trademark rules?

Under Rule 47 of the Trade Marks Rules, 2017, the opponents can file evidence in reply to rebut or to deal with the evidence filed by the applicants under Rule 46 and if the opponents do not file its reply under Rule 47, the Registrar of Trade Marks may consider that the averments made and documents relied upon by the ...

What is the most ridiculous patent granted?

There's no single "most ridiculous" patent, as absurdity is subjective, but popular contenders include the "Bells on Rats" (luring rats to wear bells to alert you), a centrifugal force birthing apparatus, a fire escape suit with wings, and the "Banana Protective Device" (a hard plastic case for a single banana). Other contenders involve impractical ideas like self-kicking exercise machines, a skull-shaped device for ghostly confessions, and even a laser pointer for exercising cats, demonstrating a wide range of peculiar and impractical inventions throughout history. 

What is the $2500 expense rule?

The $2,500 expense rule refers to the IRS's De Minimis Safe Harbor Election, allowing businesses (without a formal financial statement) to immediately deduct the full cost of tangible property costing up to $2,500 per item or invoice, rather than depreciating it over years. This simplifies taxes for small businesses, letting them expense items like computers or small furniture in one year if they follow consistent accounting practices and make the annual election by attaching a statement to their tax return. 

What is the most overlooked tax deduction?

The most overlooked tax breaks often include the Saver's Credit (Retirement Savings Contributions Credit) for low-to-moderate income individuals, out-of-pocket charitable expenses, student loan interest deduction, and state and local taxes (SALT), especially if you itemize. Other common ones are deductions for unreimbursed medical costs (over AGI threshold), jury duty pay remitted to an employer, and even reinvested dividends in taxable accounts. 

How to get paid off trademark?

Once you've come up with a creative name, logo, and slogan and they are federally registered, you now are ready to monetize your trademarks. Options include: Licensing your trademark and allowing another company to use it for particular goods and services. Trademark licensing is fairly common.

What are the new fees for USPTO 2025?

The USPTO 2025 fee schedule, effective January 19, 2025, brought significant changes, including higher fees for excess claims (doubled for claims over 20) and independent claims, increased RCE (Request for Continued Examination) fees, new surcharges for late/long-running continuation applications, and tiered fees for large Information Disclosure Statements (IDSs), all aimed at stabilizing USPTO finances, with some trademark fees also adjusted. Key increases include RCEs (to $1,500/first, $2,860/subsequent), excess claims (to $200/each over 20), and new IDS surcharges ($200-$800 for 50-200+ citations). 

What are common trademark mistakes?

Common trademarking mistakes include, but are not limited to: Poor choice of brand name. Your business name should resonate with your target customer and express what you do using a strong, memorable image or word. Failing to perform a complete search of trademark databases.

What cannot be trademarked?

The following things cannot be registered as trademarks: Deceptive Words, Names, Phrases, Slogans (they are misleading) Merely Descriptive Words (e.g., Best ice cream, Red car) Merely Decorative Features (they don't identify source)

What are the 4 types of trademarks?

The four main categories of trademarks, ranked by strength, are Fanciful/Arbitrary, Suggestive, Descriptive, and Generic, with Fanciful/Arbitrary being the strongest (e.g., Kodak, Apple for computers) and Generic being the weakest (e.g., "Aspirin" for pain relievers, which cannot be trademarked). These categories determine how much distinctiveness a mark has and the level of legal protection it receives, with fanciful/arbitrary marks being inherently strong and generic terms never receiving protection.
 

What is stronger, TM or R?

Legal Protection: The ® symbol provides stronger legal protection than ™. It gives you the right to sue for trademark infringement if someone else tries to use your registered trademark without permission.

How to not infringe on a trademark?

How to Avoid Accidental Trademark Infringement

  1. Do your research. Before you settle on a name, logo, or domain name, make sure it is not already trademarked. ...
  2. Enlist help. ...
  3. Consider general liability insurance. ...
  4. Register your trademark. ...
  5. Document your findings.

What copyrights expire in 2025?

In 2025, works published in the U.S. in 1929 and sound recordings from 1924 entered the public domain, including books like William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, and Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, along with early films like the first Marx Brothers movie and the characters Popeye and Tintin, opening them for free use, adaptation, and distribution.
 

How many seconds to avoid copyright?

In the world of music and copyright, there's a commonly perpetuated myth that using a small snippet, such as 10 seconds, of a copyrighted song won't lead to infringement. Unfortunately, this notion isn't accurate. The truth is, there is no 'safe' duration of use that universally protects from copyright infringement.

What does LLC 🕊 💔 mean?

LLC stands for Limited Liability Company, a business structure, while the doves (🕊️) and broken hearts (💔) emojis usually signify the passing or "loss" of someone, often used online to mourn a person or perhaps a business/idea that has ended, meaning someone's LLC (business) might be gone or someone passed away with that business structure. 

What to call yourself if you own an LLC?

Member: The most common title, “member,” is universally recognized and suitable for single-member or multi-member LLCs. Manager: If the LLC is manager-managed, the title “manager” denotes someone tasked with operational leadership, which may include owners or external appointees.

What are common LLC naming mistakes?

Common LLC naming mistakes include choosing a name that isn't unique or available, failing to check for trademark conflicts, using restricted words (like "Bank" or "Insurance"), being overly descriptive or too generic, and not verifying digital/domain availability, all of which can lead to rejection, legal issues, or branding problems.