“Bad times since 2010” —-> 18 good questions to ask any trademark provider.

Dear Client, don’t unsub, yet! A little housekeeping.

No, I didn’t include the “18 Questions” to ask whoever you may ever consider to get your next trademark. 

To those who wondered, here you go.

Be it a trademark service or a trademark attorney, ask a few of these questions to make sure you are talking to someone who really knows how to get a trademark, or not so much. 

This is still part 3 of 4, of my retirement series.

Here’s 1) April 23, 2025 https://conta.cc/4jJOPry, 2) April 25, 2025 https://conta.cc/4jss77J and 3) May 18, 2015 https://conta.cc/435vrQq.

18 Trademark Company Questions

TME = TradeMark Express – Our cost saving trademark service.

UT = Urgent Trademark – Our full service, UP TO 3 chances to get a legally clear mark.

1) How long have you been doing trademarks? (TME/UT=33 years)

2) Do you offer comprehensive legal research? (TME/UT = always)

3) How many trademarks have done? (TME/UT = 100,000)

4) How many days does it take to get the comprehensive research back? (TME=~7 days / UT = ~2-3 days)

5) How much internal time does it take you to handle a trademark? (TME = 10 hours / UT = 14-20 hours)

6) Are you doing Federal, State and common law research? (TME/UT = yes)

7) How many pages is your typical combined research report? (TME/UT = 600-800 pages)

8) Do you do the research in steps, or deliver everything in 1 big search? (TME/UT = 3 steps)

9) Where do you outsource or which database do you access, buy from to compile research? 

10) Do you flag/cite conflicts and similarities & explain why? (TME/UT = yes)

11) How many conflicts and similarities may come up? Range? (TME/UT = 20-40 hits)

12) Do you provide attorney analysis of conflicts and similarities? (TME/UT = 12 TM attorneys)

13) Do you do the competitive checks/verifications of all the conflicts and similarities -or do I? (TME = you / UT=we do this 2-4 hours of work)

14) What do you charge for a 2nd name? 3rd name? (TME=step-by-step Free/$200/$200/$200 – replenish to $600 fee. / UT = fixed $800 fee UP TO 3 names)

15) What % of your clients are blocked and need a new name? (TME/UT = 35%-40%)

16) How long does it take the USPTO to register a mark? (TME/UT = 8-9 months)

17) How long does another company have to cease & desist me or try to cancel my trademark if my trademark is infringing? (TME/UT = 10 years)

18) When did your firm last get a likelihood-of-confusion trademark refusal? (TME/UT = 2008)

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You cannot KNOW if your mark is in fact LEGALLY CLEAR 

without comprehensive legal research to clear a name – as we specialize.

Don’t hire incompetence. Don’t encourage unethical, negligent

trademark services that prey on uninformed small business owners.

The very top USPTO officers themselves call such companies “illegitimate trademark mills”. They don’t say this because everyone offers the same level of trademarking services. They don’t. 

Buyer Be Aware & Compare skilled, ethical, successful services – LIKE US! Trademarking nowadays has become a distorted buyer mine field marketplace, where inexperienced, unskilled trademark services and inexperienced, unethical attorneys have obtained an unfair competitive advantage by their sheer number and “too good to be true” low fees – designed to take your money with their substandard, damaging trademark services, while driving out legitimate trademarking services – like us. It is a FACT – trademarking services take 10 hours. It is a FACT – actual comprehensive legal Federal trademark, State trademark and Common Law trademark research takes 5-6 hours and totals 400-600 page reports when vetting similarities in sound, appearance and meaning, related goods/services, channels of distribution. It is a FACT – expert trademark attorney review, as we provide, are needed. It is a FACT – trademark applications SHOULD be completed correctly the FIRST TIME. This work is NOT what the discounting trademark services and attorneys offer – no matter how great their web sites look. This is what we do – for 33 years. This is why we offer a $1000 reward, IF you can find a better trademark service. Our challenge offer since 2009.

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Thank you,

Chris DeMassa, Founder – 650-948-0530

Email: staff@tmexpress.com

Web Site: tmexpress.com

Order: https://www.tmexpress.com/order-my-trademark

Creative Naming – http://miramark.com/nameit/

Zoom Anytime – https://bit.ly/TradeMarkZoomMeeting

Calendly Meeting – https://calendly.com/tmexpress/15min

TM®SM Crash Course – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gWaAJR5L18

12 Expert Trademark Attorney Network Included.

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisdemassa/ 

Ask about our $1000 Trademark Challenge.

Blog Articles – https://tmexpress.com/trademark-blog/

Testimonials – https://tmexpress.com/testimonials

TrustPilot – https://bit.ly/TrustpilotRating