Your company name represents years of work building reputation and customer trust. Yet right now, someone could be filing trademark paperwork that blocks your expansion, forces an expensive rebrand, or gives competitors legal cover to confuse your customers.
In 1968, a small Illinois restaurant called “Burger King” successfully defended its name against the global fast-food chain we know today, worth billions of dollars. The local family-owned business, operating since the 1950s, maintained exclusive rights to the name within a 20-mile radius of Mattoon, Illinois, forcing the international corporation to stay out entirely.
This wasn’t luck. It was the result of established common law trademark rights that predated the chain’s federal registration. The case demonstrates a critical reality: trademark protection operates on multiple levels, and understanding these layers can mean the difference between defending your brand and losing it to a larger competitor, often before you even realize the threat exists.
The stakes are higher than most business owners realize. Over 3.3 million trademarks are actively registered in the U.S. as of early 2025, creating an increasingly crowded naming landscape. Yet many entrepreneurs still operate under dangerous misconceptions, believing that incorporating their business or buying a domain name provides adequate protection. It doesn’t.
In this guide, you’ll discover the critical differences between state business registration and trademark protection that most owners miss, how to determine if your name qualifies for strong legal protection (and what to do if it doesn’t), step-by-step processes for securing federal trademark registration including common rejection reasons, and practical enforcement strategies when someone infringes on your name with cost breakdowns for each option.
Understanding the Layers to Protect Company Name
The U.S. Small Business Administration identifies four distinct ways to register or protect a business name: entity registration, trademark registration, DBA registration, and domain registration. Each provides a different scope of protection, and critically, each is legally independent.
Here’s the expensive mistake: most business owners stop at state incorporation, assuming their name is protected. State LLC registration prevents another entity with the same name in that state, nothing more. It doesn’t stop a corporation from using the same name in the same state, doesn’t prevent use in other states, and grants zero trademark rights.
| Protection Type | Geographic Scope | Legal Strength | Cost Range |
| State Business Registration | Single state | Limited (entity name only) | $50-$200 (one-time) |
| Common Law Rights | Local market area | Patent cost is moderate (usage-based) | Free (automatic via use) |
| Federal Trademark | Nationwide (USA) | Strongest (nationwide exclusivity) | ~$250-$350 per class |
| Domain Registration | Global (online) | Supplementary (website-only) | ~$10-$50/year per domain |
The data reveals why this matters: in FY 2024, the USPTO processed 765,000 trademark applications, a 4% increase from 2023. With approval rates ranging from 51-54% and approximately 70% of applications receiving at least one initial refusal, thousands of businesses each year discover their chosen name can’t be protected, forcing expensive rebrands after they’ve already invested in marketing and customer acquisition. Strategic trademark planning from the start eliminates this costly risk. Thousands of businesses each year discover their chosen name can’t be protected, forcing expensive rebrands after they’ve already invested in marketing and customer acquisition.
Method 1: State Business Registration
When you form an LLC, corporation, or partnership, you register your entity name with your state’s Secretary of State office. This is legally required before conducting business, but it’s the most misunderstood protection method.
What State Registration Actually Protects
State business registration prevents other businesses from registering the same name as the same entity type within that single state. If you register “XYZ Innovations, LLC” in California, no other California LLC can use that identical name.
Here’s what state registration doesn’t do:
- Won’t stop “XYZ Innovations, Corp” from incorporating in California (different entity type)
- It won’t prevent “XYZ Innovations, LLC” from forming in Texas or any other state
- Grants zero trademark rights for commercial use of the name
As the legal analysis notes, state registration establishes your legal identity for contract and tax purposes, not for brand protection. The state simply records “this entity name exists,” but doesn’t grant the right to prevent others from using that name in commerce.
A DBA (“doing business as”) registration provides even less protection; it’s essentially a public notice that you’re using an assumed name, nothing more. For actual protection, you need the methods below.
Method 2: Federal Trademark Registration
Federal trademark registration through the USPTO is the gold standard for name protection. It’s the most powerful tool available for safeguarding your brand at the national level.
Why Federal Registration Matters
A federal trademark grants you:
- Nationwide exclusive rights to use the mark for the goods and services listed in your registration, across all 50 states.
- In court, the legal presumption of ownership and validity shifts the burden to the challenger to disprove your rights.
- Enhanced legal remedies, including statutory damages, treble damages for willful infringement, and potential attorney fee recovery.
- Public notice via the USPTO’s database, which now contains over 3.3 million active registrations, deters potential infringers who search before choosing names.
Federal registration provides the strongest legal foundation for nationwide protection, with enhanced remedies unavailable through common law rights alone. Tens of thousands of businesses fail to secure trademark protection, often because their names are too similar to existing marks or too descriptive.
The Trademark Application Process
Securing a federal trademark involves several critical steps:
1. Conduct comprehensive searches
Before applying, conduct comprehensive searches for existing marks that might conflict with yours. Likelihood of confusion with existing marks is the most common ground for refusal, accounting for a significant portion of USPTO rejections. Strategic trademark searches go beyond the USPTO’s TESS database to include state registries, domain records, common law uses, and industry-specific databases, a level of thoroughness that separates successful applications from costly rejections.
2. Evaluate distinctiveness and eligibility
Not all names qualify for trademark protection. The USPTO evaluates names on a distinctiveness spectrum:
| Category | Example | Protectability |
| Fanciful | “Kodak” | Strongest (invented words) |
| Arbitrary | “Apple” for computers | Very Strong (real words, no connection to product) |
| Suggestive | “Netflix” | Strong (hints at product, requires imagination) |
| Descriptive | “Quality Carpet Cleaning” | Weak (needs secondary meaning proof) |
| Generic | “Computer Repair” | Not protectable at all |
Each year, the USPTO issues thousands of refusals for descriptiveness, requiring businesses to prove distinctiveness through extensive use and consumer recognition. If your name is “Fast Plumbing Services” or “Delicious Bakery,” expect significant obstacles.
3. Determine your filing basis and class
Specify the goods/services your trademark will cover using the Nice Classification system (45 international classes). Class 9 (technology) accounts for 20% of filings, while Class 25 (clothing) represents 15%.
File under “Use in Commerce” if you’re already using the name, or “Intent-to-Use” if launching soon.
4. Prepare and submit the application
As of January 18, 2025, the USPTO filing fee is $350 per class for the base trademark application. The previous TEAS Plus/Standard distinction has been eliminated. You’ll need to provide your mark, identified goods/services, filing basis, and a specimen showing the mark in use.
5. Work through the examination process
After several months, an Examining Attorney reviews your application. About 25% of applications receive an office action detailing issues such as similarity conflicts or description clarifications. You typically have 6 months to respond.
Common refusal types include Section 2(d) likelihood of confusion (name too close to registered mark) and Section 2(e)(1) descriptive refusals (name merely describes the product/service).
6. Publication and registration
If approved, your application gets published in the Official Gazette for a 30-day opposition period. The entire process typically takes 8-12 months from filing to registration. As of December 2025, the average time to first examining action has improved to approximately 4.5 months, down from 7.5 months in FY 2024, as the USPTO continues to reduce pendency times.
Not All Names Qualify for Strong Protection
A Harvard Law Review study found that 81% of the 1,000 most common English words were already claimed as single-word trademarks in the U.S., and even 62% of the top 10,000 words.
If your company name is purely descriptive, like “Fast Delivery Service”, you’ll need to prove acquired distinctiveness through years of exclusive use, significant sales, and advertising demonstrating consumer association with your brand specifically. This is a high bar for new businesses.
The solution: choose creative, distinctive names from the start. Moving from generic to suggestive (even slightly) dramatically improves your protection prospects. “EverClean Plumbing” is more brandable than “Fast Plumbing Services.”
Method 3: Common Law Trademark Rights
You can establish trademark rights simply by using your name in commerce, even without federal registration. These common law rights arise automatically under state law when you consistently use a distinctive name to identify your goods or services.
How Common Law Rights Work
When you build recognition and reputation, known legally as goodwill, in a geographic area, you gain enforceable rights in that area. The first person to use a distinctive name in commerce in a given region has superior rights to that name locally.
The landmark case: In Burger King of Florida v. Hoots (1968), a family-owned restaurant named “Burger King” opened in Mattoon, Illinois, in the 1950s. When the national Burger King chain (with a federal trademark) expanded into Illinois, the local restaurant sued. The court ruled that the chain could not operate or advertise under the name “Burger King” within a 20-mile radius of Mattoon. The Hoots family’s prior everyday use of the name in that area meant they owned the name locally, despite the other company’s nationwide trademark.
Limitations You Need to Know
Common law protection comes with significant drawbacks:
Geographic limitations: Your rights extend only to areas where you’ve actually conducted business and built a reputation. The family’s rights were limited to their local area; they didn’t gain rights at the state or national level.
Proof burden: You must prove first use in the area and the consumer association. There’s no registration certificate to point to. You’ll need dated advertisements, customer affidavits, sales records, and evidence of marketing reach.
No federal remedies: Common law disputes are handled under state unfair competition law. You can’t invoke the Lanham Act’s special remedies like treble damages or statutory damages.
Potential expansion freeze: If someone obtains a federal trademark while you operate under common law, they’ll have nationwide rights except for your existing pocket of use. This boxes you into your original territory; expanding beyond it could infringe on their mark.
Common law rights work best for truly local businesses with no expansion plans. But if you have growth ambitions, they’re insufficient protection.
Method 4: Domain Name Protection
Your website address often represents the first customer touchpoint with your brand. Over 364 million domain name registrations exist globally as of late 2024, with .com domains comprising approximately 156 million.
Strategic Domain Registration
Secure multiple domain variations:
- Your exact match (yourbusiness.com), customers assume this is your address
- Common alternatives (.net, .org, .biz) to prevent competitor use
- Industry-specific extensions (.io and .tech for startups, .org for nonprofits)
- Common misspellings to prevent typosquatting
- Country-specific domains (.ca, .co, .uk) if operating internationally
Domain costs typically run $10-50 annually per domain, a fraction of the price if someone sets up a phishing site or demands thousands to transfer the domain to you.
Approximately 80% of domain disputes handled by WIPO involve .com domains, indicating that cybersquatters target .com overwhelmingly. Prioritize securing your .com first.
Fighting Domain Squatters
When someone registers a domain matching your trademark in bad faith, you have two primary legal mechanisms:
UDRP (Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy): An international arbitration process specifically for domain disputes involving trademarks. In 2023, trademark owners filed 6,192 UDRP cases via WIPO, a record high. In 2024, filings remained strong at 6,168 cases.
UDRP typically costs $1,500-$4,000 in filing and arbitration fees and resolves in 2-3 months. Success rates are high: in over 80% of cases, the domain transfers to the trademark holder.
ACPA (Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act): A U.S. federal law allowing you to sue in federal court over bad-faith registration of domains identical or confusingly similar to your trademark. ACPA allows statutory damages of up to $100,000 per domain, but litigation typically costs $100,000+ and is a secondary option if arbitration fails.
Most disputes are resolved before the proceedings are completed. A well-crafted cease-and-desist letter citing your trademark rights often prompts a domain transfer or settlement.
Building a Comprehensive Protection Strategy
The most effective approach layers these protections based on your business model:
For Local Service Businesses
- Register your entity with your state (required for legal operations)
- File a DBA if operating under a different name (often legally required)
- Build common law rights through consistent use and documentation
- Register primary domains, including city-specific variations
- Consider a federal trademark as you grow or plan franchising
In 2023, a fair share of trademark applications were filed by small businesses, not just large corporations. The investment prevents potentially massive rebranding costs later.
For Businesses Planning National Expansion
- Conduct thorough trademark searches before finalizing your name; discovering conflicts after launch can be devastating.
- File a federal trademark early, ideally before launch or immediately upon starting use.
- Register the entity in the home state and the foreign entity status in the expansion states.
- Secure domains across extensions (.com, .net, .org, .co, plus country codes for international markets)
- Set up trademark monitoring to catch similar applications during the 30-day opposition window.
For E-commerce and Digital Businesses
- Prioritize the federal trademark because your market is inherently nationwide from day one.
- Registering extensive domain variations, including misspellings, makes online businesses particularly vulnerable to URL hijacks and phishing.
- Monitor for infringing domains and social media handles using watch services or regular searches.
- Document online commercial use to support national common law claims as backup.
Ongoing Enforcement and Maintenance
Legal protection requires active maintenance, but proper federal registration means you’ll rarely face expensive enforcement battles.
Monitoring and Enforcement
Set up systems to track potential infringement:
- Trademark watch services monitoring new USPTO applications for similar marks.
- Domain monitoring for new registrations containing your brand name.
- Web alerts (Google Alerts, social media searches) for brand mentions.
- Marketplace monitoring on Amazon, eBay, and app stores for unauthorized use.
When you discover infringement, you have escalating options:
| Action | When to Use | Typical Cost |
| Cease-and-desist letter | First response to most infringements | $500-$2,000 (attorney-drafted) |
| USPTO Opposition/Cancellation | Block or cancel conflicting trademark applications, or respond to Patent Office Actions | $2,000-$10,000+ |
| UDRP proceeding | Bad-faith domain cybersquatting | $1,500-$5,000 |
| Federal litigation | Serious ongoing infringement with damages | $50,000+ (often $100,000+) |
Average trademark litigation costs range from $120,000 to $750,000, depending on the complexity of the case. Most disputes resolve at the cease-and-desist stage; a letter from an attorney citing your registration often prompts compliance.
Don’t delay enforcement. If you “sleep on your rights,” infringers could argue laches (an unreasonable delay that makes enforcement unfair).
Maintaining Your Rights
Federal trademarks require ongoing maintenance:
- Section 8 Declaration (between years 5-6): Confirms continued use.
- Section 15 Declaration (at 5-6 years): Makes the mark incontestable, providing a stronger status.
- Section 9 Renewal (every 10 years): Extends registration.
Renewal filings increased 12% in 2023, suggesting businesses actively maintain their marks. Miss a deadline, and your registration gets canceled; you’re back to square one.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Even experienced business owners make critical trademark mistakes that jeopardize protection. Strategic guidance from experienced trademark counsel helps you avoid these costly missteps from the outset.
Assuming personal names or generic terms are automatically protected: Unless your personal name has a strong secondary meaning in a field, it’s not inherently protectable. Add distinctive elements or choose creative names.
Waiting until infringement occurs: Reactive protection costs exponentially more than proactive registration. The trademark application fee (a few hundred dollars) is trivial compared to $120,000-$750,000 for trademark litigation.
Skipping the search phase: Likelihood of confusion with existing marks is one of the most common grounds for refusal, accounting for a significant portion of initial office actions issued by the USPTO. Comprehensive searches catch similar names, alternate spellings, and sound-alikes before you invest in the name.
Relying solely on state registration or domain ownership: State filing proves you’re a legitimate business entity, but doesn’t equal trademark rights. Similarly, owning a domain doesn’t grant trademark ownership in commerce.
Not documenting usage: Save dated advertisements, press releases, website screenshots, invoices, and client lists. If you ever need to enforce or defend your rights, evidence of the first use date and commercial recognition is invaluable.
Your Next Steps to Brand Protection Success
Your company name represents years of work building reputation, customer relationships, and market position. Proper legal protection ensures that investment stays yours, not vulnerable to copycats or cybersquatters who can undermine your brand overnight.
The bottom line: weak trademark protection helps your competitors. When you lack federal registration, you’re inviting others to use similar names in different markets, diluting your brand value and forcing you into expensive defensive battles. Strong trademark protection deters infringement before it starts and gives you the legal tools to shut down violations quickly when they occur.
Here’s what’s at stake: with 765,000 trademark applications filed in 2024 and rising, the naming landscape grows more competitive every month. Every day you delay gives competitors and opportunists more time to stake claims that could block your expansion or force costly rebranding. The U.S. operates on a first-to-file system for trademarks; if someone files before you, they have priority in the registration race.
Take these immediate actions:
- Schedule a Free IP Strategy Call with the RLG trademark team to evaluate your brand’s protection needs and identify potential conflicts before they become expensive problems.
- Conduct a comprehensive trademark search using the USPTO’s TESS database and web searches for common law uses.
- Secure critical domain names for your brand (.com at a minimum, plus common variations) to prevent cybersquatters from stealing your online identity.
- File for federal trademark registration to establish nationwide rights before competitors or copycats stake their claims.
Building a defensible brand starts with a proper legal foundation. At Rapacke Law Group, we eliminate the uncertainty and expense of traditional hourly billing with transparent fixed-fee pricing that covers your entire trademark application process. Get your trademark approved or pay nothing. We guarantee it. We’re so confident we’ll get your mark approved that if your trademark gets rejected, we’ll issue a 100% refund. No questions asked.
The RLG Guarantee for trademark protection includes:
- FREE strategy call with our trademark concierge team
- Experienced US attorneys lead your registration start to finish
- One transparent flat-fee covering the entire trademark application process, including office action responses
- Unlimited office action responses to overcome USPTO objections
- Full refund if the USPTO denies your trademark application*
- Full refund or additional searches if your brand has registerability issues (your choice)*.
The businesses that implement layered protection today avoid forced rebranding and six-figure legal battles tomorrow. Your company name is your most valuable intangible asset, and proper trademark protection can last indefinitely with the correct maintenance.
Don’t leave your brand vulnerable. Contact Rapacke Law Group today to secure the trademark protection your business deserves.
About the Author
Andrew Rapacke, Managing Partner, is a Registered Patent Attorney specializing in trademark protection and intellectual property strategy for businesses of all sizes.
Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn or follow @rapackelaw on Twitter/X and Instagram.
To Your Success,
Andrew Rapacke
Rapacke Law Group
