- Hi everybody.
I'm attorney Aiden Durham with 180 Law Co in Colorado.
And welcome back to "All Up In Yo' Business".
(upbeat music)
On this episode of "All Up In Yo' Business",
I'm going to break down the differences
between the TEAS Plus
and TEAS Standard trademark applications.
I'm gonna explain
why you would wanna use one application over the other
and I'm gonna give you a few tips
to help you save money when filing a trademark application.
But first, don't forget to smash that like button
and subscribe to my channel if you haven't already
and be sure to check the description
for links to additional information and resources.
You can find details on "Brand Bombshell",
which is my signature
all-inclusive trademark registration package
and "Brandish", my online DIY trademark course.
And a link to download
my free introduction to trademarks guide.
Okay, so one of the steps in getting a registered trademark
is of course filing the application
with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Notice how I said one of the steps
and not the first step?
Yeah, the actual application is like
maybe the third or fourth step.
There's a lot more that you wanna do
before you've even filed the trademark application.
Check out "Brandish" if you wanna learn all the things
that you should be doing
before you start working on the application.
If you navigate to the USPTO website at USPTO.gov,
you'll see that we have a couple of options
for the trademark application.
TEAS Plus and TEAS Standard.
TEAS means Trademark Electronic Application System
in case you wanted to know.
These are the two most commonly used
types of trademark applications.
There are others that we'll occasionally use
for less common types of trademarks
but these are the two that most of us
are gonna be dealing with.
As the USPTO explains it,
TEAS Plus has more requirements up front
but a lower filing fee.
And TEAS Standard has fewer requirements up front
and a higher fee.
Though, the end that the requirements for registration
are exactly the same regardless
of the application you use.
So don't let the fewer requirements upfront thing fool you.
So the first major difference
between the two is the filing fee.
TEAS Plus is 250 per class of goods and services
and TEAS Standard is 350 per class of goods or services.
Obviously 250 is better than 350
so most of us are gonna wanna stick
with TEAS Plus application
if we're trying to keep our costs low
but as the USPTO stated,
TEAS Plus has more requirements
up front compared to TEAS Standard.
So let's talk about those requirements.
The first has to do with when you pay the filing fee.
If you're applying to register your trademark
in more than one class of goods or services,
all of those feeds need to be paid
when you submit the TEAS Plus application
with the standard application, though,
you only need to pay for one class
when you file the application.
The other fees that there are any
will be due later on in the process.
The second requirement has to do with
how you identify the goods and services.
in your application.
A little background real quick.
When you apply to register a trademark,
you have to specify the goods or services
with which the trademark will be used.
There are 45 different classes of goods and services
and tons and tons of different categories or descriptions
of goods and services within each class.
As I mentioned earlier
the USPTO filing fees are per class.
If you offer multiple types of goods
or services that all fall under the same class
you can include all of those
and only pay the filing fee for one class.
But if your goods or services fall
under multiple different classes,
then there will be additional filing fees for those classes.
Okay, so back to the requirements
for identifying goods and services on your application.
The USPTO has this thing
called the Trademark Identification Manual
that has a huge list of goods and services.
I'll link to the Trademark ID Manual in the description
so you guys can check that out.
In order to use the TEAS Plus application
and benefit from that lower filing fee,
you have to select your goods and service listings
from that Trademark ID Manual.
This isn't going to be a problem for most of us.
The Trademark ID Manual has a lot,
I'm talking thousands and thousands
of different goods and services descriptions
that you can choose from.
And chances are,
there'll be at least one in there that applies to you.
But sometimes there aren't.
Like if we're dealing with a brand new type of business,
something that's never been done before,
there may not already be a description
in the Trademark ID Manual that really fits
with our goods or services.
Sometimes we need to be more creative
and come up with our own brand new description
for the goods and services
and that's where TEAS Standard comes in.
Unlike TEAS Plus where you have to pick
from the Trademark ID Manual,
TEAS Standard allows you to enter your own description
for the goods and services
under which you want your trademark to be registered.
By the way, that's why the filing fees
are not all due upfront with TEAS Standard.
We meaning, trademark applicants and trademark attorneys,
don't always know exactly which of the 45 classes
would be appropriate for the goods and services.
So we are allowed to leave the class number out
of the application initially,
and basically let the USPTO tell us
which classes are appropriate.
And then we can later pay
the additional filing fees if needed.
The third extra requirement for the TEAS Plus application
has to do with the additional statements portion
of the trademark application.
There's a section on the application
that asks about additional statements.
With TEAS Plus we have to indicate on the application
if those additional statements apply to our trademark.
Specifically with the TEAS Plus application,
we have to address
if the same trademark has already been registered
with the USPTO by you,
but the owner name in the prior registration
is not the same as in the new application.
If the trademark has color,
if the trademark includes a design or stylized font,
if it includes non English words or non Latin characters,
if the trademark includes a name
or portrait of a living individual,
and if the trademark is currently in use
and the applicant needs to limit use
to specific geographic area
and identify the other concurrent users.
So if any of those circumstances apply to your trademark,
you must indicate that
on the additional statements section of the application
if you wanna benefit from that lower fee
of the TEAS Plus application.
This is super important
because the USPTO is going to charge you additional fees
if you fail to do so when you should have.
The TEAS Standard application on the other hand,
doesn't have that requirement.
You will still need to tell the USPTO if any of
those additional statements apply to your trademark
but you can do so after the application has been submitted.
So to summarize,
the main differences between TEAS Plus and TEAS Standard
are number one, the filing fees,
number two, how we select the goods and services
for our trademark
and number three, when we need to indicate
if any additional statements apply to our trademark.
In the end, the requirements to get a registered trademark
with the USPTO are exactly the same,
regardless of the type of application you use.
Using one application over the other
isn't gonna decrease your chances of getting rejected
due to a likelihood of confusion, for example.
If we're trying to keep our costs and filing fees low,
then the TEAS Plus application
is gonna be the best
and most appropriate option for most of us.
The most common reason
for using the TEAS Standard application
is if we need to go outside
of the USPTO's Trademark ID Manual
for our goods and services descriptions.
But with TEAS Plus,
it's important to pay close attention
to those additional statements on the application
to make sure we don't miss any important detail
that might result in additional filing phase.
That's why it's always best
to work with an experienced trademark attorney
if you are trying to get
a registered trademark with a USPTO.
Sure, a lawyer is going to cost more money
but it's going to help you increase your chances
of getting the trademark registered
and prevent costly mistakes on the application itself.
That's all for this episode, folks.
Drop a comment below,
let me know what you think.
If you need help getting a registered trademark
for your business,
check out "Brand Bombshell",
my signature, all inclusive trademark registration package.
Or if you're on a tight budget
and looking to DIY your trademark application,
then check out "Brandish",
my on demand online course
that teaches you step by step,
how to prepare for complete
and submit a trademark application with the USPTO
without a lawyer.
You can find those links and additional information
and resources in the description.
Thank you all so much for watching.
I'm Aiden Durham and I'll see you next time.
(upbeat music)