How to Register a Trademark in 2026

A trademark protects your brand name and logo, and registration turns a common-law claim into a nationwide legal right that is far easier to enforce.

You can have trademark rights just by using a name in commerce, but registration gives you the official record, legal presumptions and the ability to sue in federal court.

The registration steps

• Search the database to confirm the mark is available
• Identify the exact goods or services and their classes
• File the application with a specimen of use
• Respond to any office actions from the examiner
• Maintain the registration with renewal filings

What trips people up

• Picking a mark too similar to an existing one
• Filing in the wrong class
• Submitting a specimen that does not show real use
• Assuming a domain name equals trademark rights

Run a thorough search and file in the right class, and your brand gets a level of protection that common-law use can never match.

After registration

Your work is not done at registration, you must use the mark in commerce and renew it on schedule to keep it alive.

• Use the mark continuously
• File renewals between years five and ten
• Police against infringers