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Guide to trademarks in really plain English. Read it – if everything else fails.

Posted on by trademarkangel

Guide to trademarks: Take your time to read this guide to trademarks. It will answer most of your questions about trademarks. (Updated August 26, 2026)

Owning property is always cool. But when that property is a trademark, it is even more exciting, isn’t it?

The trouble is that most business owners cannot say what their trademark actually is, what can and cannot be trademarked, or what rights registration really gives them.

If that sounds like you, keep reading. This guide clears up the confusion and gives you the answers in really plain English.

What is a trademark and do I already have one?

In a general sense, brand names, company names, product names, logos and slogans are all trademarks. But there is one deal breaker: without it, none of them are trademarks at all.

The deal breaker is using the mark on actual goods and services.

Trademarks on goods vs. trademarks for services

For goods, a trademark is what you put on your products to identify them as yours and to make it easy for your customers to find them later. You may put your trademark on tags, labels, instruction manuals, containers, or on the packaging. A trademark is like a key word or a light-house that eliminates the necessity of having to remember the company name that makes those products.

For services, a trademark is what you put on your marketing materials, invoices, business cards, brochures, photographs of business signage and billboards, and webpages (usually in the header).

Is my company name my trademark?

Maybe, maybe not. Your company name is a trademark ONLY if it is used in the sale or trade of your goods and services to identify them.

For example, your company name is Elite Apparatus Inc. You think that your brand name is “ELITE APPARATUS”, but you put your logo on your products instead of “Elite Apparatus Inc.” or “ELITE APPARATUS”.

In that case your trademark is actually the logo – not “Elite Apparatus Inc.” and not “ELITE APPARATUS”.

You can find more information here: What is a trademark?

What should I trademark: brand name, logo or both?

You spent countless hours and a lot of money developing a brand name. You designed a unique and meaningful logo by trial and error. No doubt you want to protect both.

The first step is to make sure that you put (or plan to put) the exact brand name and the exact logo on your products and services.

If you don’t want to put both the brand name and the logo on your product because it would look crowded or aesthetically unpleasant, you should instead put your trademark on your products.

For example, you sell different kitchen utensils including cold drinks, tea and coffee beans. Your brand name is “THE ABSOLUTE”. You use “THE ABSOLUTE COCOA” for your tea and coffee beans and “THE ABSOLUTE UTENSILS” for your kitchen utensils.

So which one should you trademark? You actually have two trademarks here:

  • “THE ABSOLUTE COCOA” for your tea and coffee beans, and
  • “THE ABSOLUTE UTENSILS” for your kitchen utensils.

Although your brand name is “THE ABSOLUTE”, it’s not your trademark, because you don’t put it on your products. An easy fix is to show the descriptive words “cocoa” and “utensils” in a slightly smaller font below the words “THE ABSOLUTE”. Your trademark then remains “THE ABSOLUTE”, because it is shown prominently and stands out. However, if “THE ABSOLUTE” and “COCOA” or “UTENSILS” are the same size, then your trademarks will be “THE ABSOLUTE COCOA” and “THE ABSOLUTE UTENSILS” respectively.

Can I file a “generic” or catch-all trademark?

No. A trademark application is always filed for specific products and/or services, so a “catch-all” or “umbrella” application without identified products or services is not possible.

This is a common wish. You have a trademark that you want to protect but you don’t know yet what you will sell under it. You are still in the product research stage, and the products you have chosen today may be replaced with others within a couple of months. So you would like to register the name and keep it open for everything you might theoretically produce one day.

What should you do instead? The general practice is to file the application for the most obvious products you want to sell. Once you come up with different or additional products, you can file a new application for the same trademark. Just make sure your trademark is registrable in relation to the products you chose to file for.

For example, you came up with a coined name, DEMA, from the first two letters of each of your sons’ names, Dean and Mark. Although you have no idea what you will be selling under this trademark, you want to protect the name so nobody else can use it in any way. You are not allowed to protect DEMA without identifying at least one product or service.

After researching an array of products, you are now inclined to sell shampoo, conditioner and other hair care products. At the same time, you are hoping to add kitchen utensils to your product line, but that’s only a possibility.

Your best course of action is to file a trademark application for DEMA for hair care products. Once you decide to add another category to your product line, such as kitchen utensils or supplements, file another application for DEMA for the additional goods.

For more in-depth reading: I am an Amazon seller and I don’t know what products I will sell next year

Does registration give me exclusive power over my trademark?

Not in the way most owners assume. Registration does NOT give the owner absolute power or a monopoly over the trademark.

It obviously gives you legal rights and protection, but those rights are limited to the products and services included in your trademark application. Other people are allowed to use and register the exact same trademark for completely different and unrelated goods and services.

Let’s say my trademark CELULAP is registered in the US for clothing and footwear. You may also be able to register CELULAP for a completely different line of goods and/or services, such as cosmetics or consultancy services in the field of advertising, as these are not related to clothing.

However, you cannot register CELULAP for socks or hats, as these are similar to clothing. Check: When I register a trademark for one type of goods or services, do I get exclusive rights to use that trademark for all goods and services?

Why choosing specific goods and services matters

Can you list every product you are planning to sell? Yes, you can – but it is rarely a good idea.

Wide coverage sounds tempting, yet in practice it creates three long-running problems.

Risk 1: A longer registration process

This is especially true in the US, where use of the trademark with the products and services is mandatory for registration. If you include goods you are not going to sell in the near future, you may delay registration. Your trademark will not register until you sell ALL the products listed in the application with the trademark on them (or until you delete those products that you decided not to sell).

For example, you sell WEEPAL branded cellphones in the US and plan to sell watches sometime in the future. You can file your application for both cellphones and watches, but your trademark will not register until you actively start selling your WEEPAL branded watches in the US.

So the decision on how many products to include is yours.

Risk 2: More objections and oppositions

Your trademark may have good chances of achieving registration for certain goods and services, but it could be problematic for others. Adding a wide range of products may trigger objections, and even oppositions from third parties.

As an example, one of our clients filed an application covering several categories of products, including cosmetics, kitchen utensils, toys and clothing, and received an opposition from another trademark owner against its coverage of kitchen utensils. If kitchen utensils hadn’t been included in the application, we would not have encountered this problem.

Risk 3: Non-use cancellation

In many countries, any interested party can file a non-use cancellation action against a mark if there has been no use of the mark on all products covered by the registration for a certain period of time. If non-use of the mark is proven, the registration may be canceled for those products.

Also, if you are unable to file a mandatory affidavit of use 6 years after registration in the US, your trademark will be automatically cancelled.

How to select the correct products and services

Choose the products you can realistically sell in the next two years, and build the list in four steps.

  • Do the research. Determining the appropriate goods and services is just as important as selecting a great trademark. This is why product research should start even before you develop a trademark.
  • Brainstorm a long list. You may come up with 10-15 products you could possibly sell. Depending on how similar they are, these products may belong to the same trademark class, or they could fall into 10-15 different trademark classes. Each class comes with a Trademarks Office filing fee (government fees), and the more classes you include, the higher the filing fees – another reason not to include too many classes.
  • Write a mini business plan. Based on your financial and other capabilities, itemize the products you may be selling in the next 24 months.
  • Finalize the list. This is the list of products to include in your trademark application.

It is perfectly normal to change your plan and line of business down the road. You can’t change the goods and/or services that you initially included in your application, but you can always file a new application for the same trademark for the additional goods and/or services. You can always delete unwanted goods and services from your existing trademark application, though.

You may be wondering how the giant retailers out there sell thousands of products with only one trademark. In fact, they have hundreds of trademarks to cover all of their products. For example, Walmart alone has more than 400 active trademarks.

In a nutshell: start trademarking with a narrow range of goods and expand it as you grow.

We invite you to check our articles on this topic:

Next step: conduct a trademark search

Once you know your trademark and your products, the next step is a trademark search – in other words, making sure that your trademark can be registered for the products you’ve selected. A search reveals the possible threats that could hinder the registration of your mark.

Please read these articles about the importance of trademark searches:

It’s worth remembering that only an expert in trademarks can help you identify the threats. The existence of a similar mark may suggest a possible problem, yet it may not be one in reality – and vice versa. Similarly, you may think that changing the spelling of a trademark makes it different from an earlier similar mark, but it does NOT.

As an example, one of our clients applied for “RAY’S TOYS” in the games and toys category, but was refused registration on “confusion grounds” because of “RAY’S FIRE STATION” for similar products. Since “TOYS” is a descriptive word, the only strong word in the proposed mark is “RAY’S”, which is the same word component as in the registered mark.

You can learn more here: What are confusingly similar trademarks?

Word mark, logo or combined mark?

You can file an application for a trademark as a word mark (text only), a logo (image), or a combined mark (text and image together). As a general rule, we recommend filing for a word mark, but sometimes it’s a good idea to file for a combined mark. A unique logo is always worth protecting too.

Please check:

It’s important that your trademark is used in commerce exactly as it is applied for registration. Kindly check the below article regarding this: Using your trademark correctly as filed – How to avoid office action refusal from the USPTO

Resources for Amazon sellers

Amazon Brand Registry and A+ Content

If you sell on Amazon, you know that having a trademark is crucial nowadays. Without a registered trademark, you cannot get into Amazon Brand Registry and get access to A+ content.

Suspensions and hijackers

If your Amazon account has been suspended, or you want to remove hijackers from your listing, start here:

Copyright registration

We can also register your copyright in the US and Canada. It can be an invaluable tool, especially if you sell on Amazon.

You can find exhaustive information about the different packages we offer here:

Useful links and further reading

Benefits of registration

Why do you need to bother about a trademark?

Choosing a strong, distinctive trademark

Trademarks that can’t be registered

Not all trademarks are registrable.

Correct trademark use and symbols

What happens after registration (maintenance and renewals)

It is necessary to file maintenance documents for your US trademarks: What is Section 8 trademark declaration of use? When do I file Section 8 affidavit of use?

Other than that, all trademarks have to be renewed every 10 years. Please pay attention to our email reporting registration, where we outline important deadlines.

You should also monitor for copycat filings – read Why is a Trademark Watch Important?

Trademark glossary in plain English

Trademark classes

All goods and services are categorized into 45 classes according to an international classification of goods and services, or the Nice Classification system. These classes are not the same as the product categories on Amazon.

For example, “pet supplies” on Amazon can fall into multiple trademark classes, like class 5 for pet supplements, class 18 for pet clothing, class 31 for pet foods, class 20 for pet beds and so on.

If you want to learn more, please read this post: Taking Advantage of the Trademark Classification & the Trademark Class Systems

Government fees

Each trademark class comes with a government filing fee. In the majority of countries, government fees are paid for each class of goods and services. These fees go straight to the Trademark Office. As such, they are not refundable.

Approximate registration timelines by country

How long registration takes depends on the country and on whether objections are raised:

  • US: usually 12-14 months; longer if there are office actions (objections from the Trademarks Office)
  • UK: 4-4.5 months
  • EU: 3-4 months (with Fast-track examination)
  • Canada: usually 36-42 months; longer if there are office actions
  • Australia: 8-10 months
  • Germany: 13 months; 10 days to 2-3 weeks with an accelerated examination request. Germany is the fastest country we file in – see our Trademark & Brand Registration in Germany packages for accelerated examination options.
  • China: 10-12 months
  • India: 10-12 months
  • Japan: 10-14 months
  • Mexico: as short as 2-4 months or as long as 10-12 months. Mexican timelines vary a lot – read How long does it take to register a trademark in Mexico?
  • Brazil: 12-18 months

Check this post for more details: How long does it take to register a trademark? For a step-by-step breakdown of each stage, also read How Long Does It Take to Get a Trademark?

Office actions

During the registration process, we may receive objections from the Trademarks Office. They are called office actions.

Oppositions

If your trademark is approved by the Trademarks Office, it is published in a special journal (official gazette) for opposition purposes. During the publication period, which varies from 30 days (in the US) to 3 months (in the EU), any third party may object to the registration of your trademark.

Statement of Use

In the US, a trademark application can be filed on several bases. Two of them are very popular: “actual use” (the applicant already sells its own branded products in the US) and “intent to use” (future sales in the US).

If the applicant is yet to use the mark in the US, the application needs to be filed on an “intent to use” basis. But as the trademark will not register until it is used in the US, we have to change the basis from “intent to use” to “actual use” later. To do this, we file a Statement of Use and submit relevant proof of use, otherwise known as a “Specimen of Use”.

In many other countries where we file trademark applications, statements of use are not required. The US is unique in this respect.

Specimens of use

“Specimens of use” show how you use the mark in association with your products and services.

Acceptable specimens of use for products:

  • Photographs, labels, tags and instruction manuals showing the trademark on the actual goods or on the packaging.
  • Webpages that contain the mark and a photo or textual description of the products, plus the means to purchase them.
  • For clothing – hang tags, collar tags, inside labels, or the mark on the breast area (for t-shirts) or inside of a cap.

The following items are NOT acceptable specimens of use for products: handbills, business cards, advertising circulars, leaflets, flyers and other advertising materials.

Acceptable specimens of use for services:

  • Photographs of business signage and billboards, brochures, advertising and marketing materials, invoices, business cards, etc.
  • Webpages that show a direct link between your trademark and the services offered under the trademark.

An important note: photos of your trademarked goods or services should not be digitally edited or have filters applied to them. The Trademarks Office will reject specimens of use that have been altered using computer software. In fact, something as simple as a photo taken with a mobile phone camera can suffice.

If you’re unsure which specimens of use are acceptable, or what they should show, please check the following links:

Buying, selling and assigning trademarks

Would you like to buy a trademark, or sell your own trademark and transfer it to another company? Check these articles:

Registration processes country by country

What does the registration process look like in different countries, and why is it important to file abroad? Check these links:

Trademark Angel policies at a glance

Our policies are summarized below for your convenience:

Still have questions? Book a free call

Do you have more questions or are you still confused? Did this guide to trademarks answer all your questions?

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