LegalZoom fees have risen from $599 to $649 for what is now called ASSIST.
Again, unfortunately, trust is depended upon to sell you. Their carefully worded offer must be deciphered, like a communique from the government of North Korea.
They say on the LegalZoom cleanly presented “trademark overview page – https://www.legalzoom.com/
Trademark registration
Set up your mark for success. With attorney help, you have a 94% chance of registering a trademark.†$649+ federal fees‡
Register a trademark
- If your first mark gets rejected, we’ll cover our $649 fee to register a different mark
- Have peace of mind knowing your attorney will research your mark, file for you, and deal with minor roadblocks
- Get a free trademark search for a second mark if your attorney thinks there’s an issue with your first choice
The 94% chance of registration = Please scroll down, or do a “find” on 94%, for what I already wrote about this ridiculous claim of credibility.
The $649 fee – This is to write an application. ONLY. Why not just say so? Applications, without comprehensive legal research are a sham. There is a 40% chance any given name is BLOCKED, ie owned already by another company under trademark law.
Writing an application based only upon a client thinking their mark is available is simple incompetence, negligence and when attorneys are involved, as LegalZoom has, then unethical. NO REAL LAW FIRM FILES BLIND TRADEMARK APPLICATIONS. Neither should LegalZoom’s attorneys.
Attorney help = After you have paid the $649, then in another “7 days minimum, but up to 10 to 14 days” you will get a consultation with one of their attorneys to START your order. Then a week or 2 weeks to file your trademark application. This is where they bring up the subject of an additional fee for legal research. Choose between $199 for a Federal trademark search and $299 for a Federal, State and Common Law search. IF ordered, then wait 2-3 days for results and second attorney consultation.
The LegalZoom “bait and switch” I claim is happening is that the real comprehensive legal research is first greatly downplayed on the web site and never brought up by LegalZoom staff who answer their phone calls.
The snappy, reassuring video, on the above web page, says at the 2:00/3:01 mark that “we’ll perform a comprehensive trademark search”, however with no mention of the extra $299 they will ask to charge you later. It SEEMS like you are getting everything for $649. You are not.
LegalZoom will tell you about the need for comprehensive research only AFTER you have paid $649 and waited 7 to 14 days for an attorney consultation. The attorney will then offer either $199 for a Federal trademark or $299 for a Federal trademark, State trademark and Common Law search. The $199 search is disingenuous.
Everyone who does trademarks knows a Federal trademark search only covers 3.5 million of 30 million marks in the USA. NOT ENOUGH. State trademarks and Common Law uses matter too.
After paying $649 a week prior, the LegalZoom attorney uses the $199 sub-standard price point to psychologically confuse people even more, under the “authority and credibility” of a being a trademark attorney, to finally ask for the actually NEEDED $299 combined Federal, State and Common Law search.
(The LegalZoom search, is in my opinion is not truly comprehensive. It is more like an 80% search. Still, it is better than what everyone else in the field is offering their clients.)
Look, I like LegalZoom. I see all the other trademark services out there. The recent blossoming of what seems like 30 to 40 outright scams, to others who lie about doing comprehensive research. It is a good thing that LegalZoom has moved to have more attorneys involved. It is distressing they have asked their attorneys to sacrifice their ethics to be involved in a “bait and switch” ploy just for a few more sales, because they feel a need the average business owner has to be fooled to ever buy from them. They don’t.
LegalZoom, say it ain’t so!
If LegalZoom’s fee is $649 + $299 = $948 – then just say so. Be up front. Be honest.
Improve your research up a couple notches to really be legally comprehensive.
Demonstrate as a leader in the industry that comprehensive legal research is a NEED.
Actually help small business get their trademarks right – on the first filing – not 2 years later.
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Thank you, Chris DeMassa
TradeMark Express – Since 1992 – Founder – 650-948-0530
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