Trademark Registration

A basic search checks the federal database for identical or very close matches. A comprehensive search (included from Standard up) also checks state registrations, common-law use and phonetically/visually similar marks — catching conflicts a basic search would miss.

A formal letter from a USPTO examining attorney raising a question or objection to your application. Most applications get at least one; it's a normal part of the process, not necessarily a rejection, but it does need a timely, correctly argued response.

Forming an LLC or filing a DBA gives you no trademark rights at all — they're different systems entirely. It's entirely possible for two businesses in different states to have the same LLC name while only one can hold the federal trademark.

Indefinitely, as long as you keep using it in commerce and file the required maintenance documents — a Declaration of Use between years 5–6, and renewals every 10 years after that.

Once published, any party who believes they'd be harmed by your mark has 30 days to file an opposition — this is rare for most small-business marks with a clean search, but genuinely contested oppositions typically need dedicated trademark litigation counsel, beyond this service's scope.