How much does it cost to trademark a business name in El Paso?

The USPTO charges a base filing fee of $350 per class of goods or services, with surcharges for custom descriptions or incomplete applications. Our flat attorney fee, quoted upfront per mark and class, covers the search, opinion, filing and routine office action responses. A Texas state registration through the Secretary of State costs $50 per class in state fees and can be added for local-only businesses.

How long does trademark registration take?

The USPTO currently takes several months to assign an application to an examining attorney, and most applications reach registration 12 to 18 months after filing if no serious refusal or opposition arises. Intent-to-use applications add time because a statement of use must be filed once the mark is in commerce. Your priority date, however, is the filing date, so filing early matters more than the wait.

Do I have to go to court to register a trademark?

No. Trademark registration is an administrative process before the USPTO, handled entirely online. Even disputes over an application, such as an opposition by another brand owner, are decided by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board on written filings rather than in a courtroom. Court becomes relevant only if you later sue an infringer, and a registration makes that case much stronger.

Is an LLC or DBA the same as a trademark in Texas?

No. Registering an LLC with the Texas Secretary of State or filing a DBA with the El Paso County Clerk only prevents another Texas entity from registering the identical entity name; it gives no right to stop someone from using the name as a brand. The Secretary of State does not check trademarks when approving entity names. Only a trademark registration, federal or state, protects the name as a source identifier for your goods or services.

Can a business in Ciudad Juárez register a U.S. trademark?

Yes, if it uses or intends to use the mark in U.S. commerce, for example by selling to El Paso customers or shipping products across the border. USPTO rules require any applicant domiciled outside the United States to be represented by a U.S.-licensed attorney, so the application must be filed through counsel. A Mexican IMPI registration does not protect the mark in the United States, and we can also base a U.S. filing on an existing Mexican registration under Section 44.

Trademark Registration Lawyer El Paso

Trademark Search and Registration in El Paso — Own Your Brand Nationwide

We clear your business name or logo, file it with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office under the Lanham Act, and respond to the examiner — so the brand you built in El Paso is yours everywhere.

Last reviewed by Robert Andrew Navar, Esq. · State Bar of Texas

Your business name, logo and slogan are often the most valuable things your El Paso company owns, and the least protected. A DBA or LLC filing with Texas gives you no right to stop a competitor in Las Cruces, San Antonio or Ciudad Juárez from using the same name. A federal trademark registration does. It creates a nationwide presumption that the mark is yours, lets you use the registered symbol, appears in the database every future business searches before choosing a name, and gives you a federal claim against infringers. Restaurants, clothing brands, medical practices, software companies and cross-border distributors in El Paso all benefit from registering before someone else does.

Federal trademarks are governed by the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 1051 and following, and administered by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. An application is filed online through the USPTO's Trademark Center (the successor to TEAS) either on the basis of current use in commerce under Section 1(a) or a bona fide intent to use under Section 1(b), in one or more of 45 international classes of goods and services. The base filing fee is $350 per class. An examining attorney reviews the application for conflicts and descriptiveness, typically issuing a first office action several months after filing; approved marks are published for opposition and then registered. Texas also offers a state registration under Chapter 16 of the Business and Commerce Code, filed with the Secretary of State, which protects the mark only within Texas.

The Law Office of Robert Navar handles trademark work for El Paso businesses on a flat fee per mark and class that covers the clearance search, an opinion on registrability, the application, and responses to routine office actions. Nothing about the process involves a court; the USPTO is an administrative agency and everything is filed electronically. A do-it-yourself filing that chooses the wrong class, describes the goods too narrowly, submits a bad specimen or ignores a likelihood-of-confusion refusal loses the fee and months of priority. Because USPTO rules require foreign-domiciled applicants to be represented by a U.S.-licensed attorney, Juárez and Chihuahua businesses that sell into the United States must use counsel, and we serve as that attorney.

Why the clearance search matters more than the filing

The USPTO refuses a large share of applications because a similar mark already exists for related goods, and the examiner looks at sound, appearance and meaning, not just exact matches. A Spanish word mark can be refused because its English translation conflicts with a registered mark, under the doctrine of foreign equivalents, which comes up constantly with El Paso brand names. Before filing we search the federal register, the Texas Secretary of State, common-law uses, domain names and social media, and give you a written opinion. If the name is likely to be refused or to draw a cease-and-desist letter, it is far better to learn that before the signs are printed.

After registration: maintaining and enforcing an El Paso trademark

A federal registration is not permanent by itself. Between the fifth and sixth year the owner must file a Section 8 declaration of continued use, and every ten years a combined Section 8 and 9 renewal; miss those deadlines and the registration is cancelled. After five years of continuous use, a Section 15 declaration makes the mark incontestable, which greatly limits challenges. Enforcement is the owner's job — the USPTO does not police infringers — so we calendar the deadlines, monitor for conflicting applications on request, and send cease-and-desist letters when a competitor in El Paso or elsewhere adopts a confusingly similar name.

What's included

Comprehensive clearance search of the USPTO register, Texas Secretary of State records, common-law uses and domain names
Written registrability opinion, including foreign-equivalents analysis for Spanish-language marks
Selection of the correct international class(es) and an identification of goods or services that maximizes protection
USPTO application prepared and filed through the Trademark Center, with specimen review for use-based filings
Responses to routine office actions and monitoring of the application through publication and registration
Attorney of record for foreign-domiciled (Mexican) applicants as USPTO rules require
Maintenance calendar for Section 8, 9 and 15 filings and guidance on proper use of the registration symbol

How it works

Search and opinion

Tell us the mark and what you sell. Within about a week we complete the clearance search and give you a written opinion on whether the mark is likely to register and what class or classes to file in.

Application filed

We prepare the application, select the specimen or intent-to-use basis, pay the USPTO fee and file electronically. You receive the serial number and filing receipt, which establishes your priority date.

Examination to registration

We respond to the examining attorney's office actions, track publication for opposition and deliver the registration certificate, usually 12 to 18 months after filing. No court, no hearing, no travel.