Trademarks, copyrights and patents
Protecting the names, brands and work a business is built on.
Overview
Intellectual property (IP) is the legal protection for your brand, creative work, inventions, and business secrets. Trademarks protect names and logos. Copyrights protect original works like software, photos, videos and writing. Patents protect inventions. Trade secrets protect valuable information you keep private, like customer lists or recipes.
Some rights start automatically, but registration often makes them much stronger. A federal trademark registration gives nationwide notice of your claim. A U.S. copyright registration is generally required before you can sue over a U.S. work, and it affects what money you can recover. Filing in the right order and on time matters.
For businesses that sell in both the U.S. and China, each country’s rules apply separately. A U.S. registration does not protect you in China, and China generally gives rights to the first person to file. Planning both filings early may help prevent brand squatting.
Key requirements
- Trademark basis: a U.S. application must be based on current use in commerce, a bona fide intent to use, or certain foreign filings or registrations. An intent-to-use application needs a Statement of Use before it can register.
- Specimen: a use-based filing needs a real-world example of the mark as customers see it, such as a product label or a web page offering the services. Mockups and digitally altered images are generally refused.
- Foreign applicants: since August 3, 2019, trademark applicants and registrants whose domicile is outside the U.S. must be represented at the USPTO by an attorney licensed in a U.S. state (37 CFR 2.11).
- Fees (effective January 18, 2025): the base application fee is $350 per class, with extra surcharges of $100 per class for missing information and $200 per class for a free-form description of goods or services. Maintenance filings are $325 per class for a Section 8 or Section 9 filing, and $250 per class for Section 15.
- Maintenance: owners must file a Section 8 declaration of use between the 5th and 6th year after registration, and combined Section 8 and 9 filings every 10 years. Missing a deadline cancels the registration.
- Copyright: for U.S. works, registration (or a refusal) is generally required before filing an infringement suit (17 U.S.C. 411). Statutory damages and attorney’s fees are generally available only if the work was registered before the infringement began, or within three months of first publication (17 U.S.C. 412).
- Patents: only a patent attorney or patent agent registered with the USPTO may prosecute a patent application for someone else. A provisional application holds a filing date for 12 months; a non-provisional application must be filed within that year to keep the benefit.
- Trade secrets: the owner must take reasonable steps to keep the information secret. Claims under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act and California’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act generally must be filed within three years of discovery.
How we help
Trademarks
- Clearance searches and U.S. applications
- USPTO office action responses
- Monitoring and enforcement of business names and logos
Copyrights
- Registration with the U.S. Copyright Office
- DMCA takedown notices and responses
- Licensing and work-made-for-hire agreements
Patents
- Invention intake and filing strategy
- Provisional applications and prior-art review
- Assignments and license agreements
IP in business deals
- IP ownership in founder, employee and contractor agreements
- Brand and content licensing
- IP issues in financings and uplistings
More ways we help
- Answering USPTO office actions and handling Statements of Use and maintenance filings
- Serving as U.S. counsel of record for applicants domiciled outside the United States
- Drafting IP assignments, licenses, and employee invention agreements that account for Labor Code 2870
- Coordinating U.S. and China trademark filing plans for cross-border businesses
Patent applications are prepared and prosecuted with a USPTO-registered patent practitioner.
How the process works
Clearance search
Search USPTO records, state filings and the marketplace for similar marks on related goods or services. A conflict found early costs far less than a rebrand later.
Timing: 1-2 weeks
Prepare and file
Choose the owner, filing basis, classes and description of goods or services, and submit the specimen if the mark is in use. Applications are filed through the USPTO Trademark Center.
Form: USPTO base applicationTiming: 1-2 weeks to prepare
Examination and office actions
A USPTO examining attorney reviews the application. If there is a problem, the USPTO issues an office action, which generally must be answered within 3 months, with one 3-month extension available for a fee.
Form: Response to Office ActionTiming: Examination often starts several months after filing
Publication
Approved marks are published in the Official Gazette. Anyone who believes they would be harmed has 30 days to oppose or request more time.
Timing: 30-day opposition window
Registration or allowance
Use-based marks then register. Intent-to-use marks receive a Notice of Allowance and must file a Statement of Use within 6 months, with extensions available up to 36 months total.
Form: Statement of Use; Request for Extension of TimeTiming: Up to 3 years after allowance
Maintain and enforce
Docket the Section 8, 9 and 15 deadlines, watch for conflicting filings, and act against infringers.
Form: Sections 8, 9, 15 declarationsTiming: Years 5-6, then every 10 years
Documents to gather
- The exact mark (word version and logo file) and the date of first use anywhere and in U.S. commerce
- Photos of labels, packaging, or screenshots of web pages showing the mark in use
- List of products or services offered under the mark, now and planned
- Owner’s legal name, entity type, and domicile address
- Copies of any letters, demands or solicitations received about the mark
- Copies of the creative work to be registered and the date of first publication
- Contractor, employee and invention assignment agreements
- Existing license, distribution, or manufacturing agreements
- Any foreign trademark filings, including in China
Common problems to avoid
- Choosing a descriptive name (like one that just describes the product) that the USPTO may refuse or that is hard to protect.
- Filing in an individual’s name when a company actually uses the mark, or the reverse, which can make the application void.
- Paying deceptive private companies that send official-looking notices; real USPTO email comes only from an @uspto.gov address, and filing status can be checked in the USPTO TSDR system.
- Assuming a freelancer’s work belongs to the business without a signed written assignment or qualifying work-made-for-hire agreement.
- Waiting to register a copyright until after infringement starts, which can cut off statutory damages and attorney’s fees.
- Entering the Chinese market before filing a trademark (including a Chinese-language version) with CNIPA, leaving room for a squatter to file first.
What has changed lately
USPTO trademark fees changed on January 18, 2025. The two old application tiers were replaced by a $350-per-class base application with surcharges, and maintenance fees rose.
In January 2025, the U.S. Copyright Office said material generated by AI without enough human creative control is not protected by copyright, while human-authored parts and creative selection or arrangement can be.
Rules, fees and processing times change often. Ask us to confirm what applies to your case today.
Frequently asked questions
Is registering my business name with the state the same as a trademark?
No. A state business filing or fictitious business name mostly lets you operate under that name. It does not give you trademark rights against others. A federal trademark registration is a separate filing with the USPTO.
I live in China. Can I file a U.S. trademark myself?
Generally not. Since 2019, applicants and registrants domiciled outside the United States must be represented at the USPTO by a lawyer licensed in a U.S. state. This rule helps prevent fraudulent filings.
I received a letter asking me to pay to ‘register’ or ‘monitor’ my trademark. Is it real?
Many such letters come from private companies, not the government. The USPTO warns that official emails come only from @uspto.gov. You can check your file in the USPTO TSDR system or call the Trademark Assistance Center before paying anything.
Do I need to register my copyright?
Copyright exists once the work is fixed in a tangible form. But for U.S. works, you generally must register before suing, and registering early keeps statutory damages and attorney’s fees available. A standard online filing currently costs $65 (as of 2026).
My employee invented something. Who owns it?
It depends on the written agreement and the facts. California Labor Code 2870 says an employer cannot require an employee to assign an invention made entirely on the employee’s own time, without the employer’s equipment or trade secrets, unless it relates to the employer’s business or results from the employee’s work for the employer. Employers must give written notice of this limit.
Does my U.S. trademark protect me in China?
No. China uses a first-to-file system through CNIPA, so rights generally go to whoever files first. Many businesses also file a Chinese-language version of the mark and check China’s subclass system. Filing through the Madrid Protocol is one option.
- USPTO – Trademark fee changes take effect January 18
- USPTO – New trademark rule requiring foreign-domiciled applicants to have a U.S.-licensed attorney
- USPTO – Caution: deceptive notices and solicitations
- 17 U.S.C. 411 and 412 (registration and remedies)
- U.S. Copyright Office – Fees
- U.S. Copyright Office – Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, Part 2: Copyrightability
- 18 U.S.C. 1836 (Defend Trade Secrets Act civil action)
- California Labor Code 2870 (employee inventions)
- California Civil Code 3426 et seq. (Uniform Trade Secrets Act)
- USPTO – China IP resources
- USPTO – China IPR Toolkit
Information current as of September 2026. General information only, not legal advice.
Protect your rights, we’ll lead the fight.
General information only, not legal advice. Contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome, and no particular result is promised. Responsible attorney: JJ Zhang, Esq., Tez Law P.C., 4141 S. Nogales St., Suite C102, West Covina, CA 91792.