IP protection: trademarks and patents

Your brand name, logo and inventions are some of the most valuable things your business owns, and some of the easiest to lose. A competitor can register a name you've been using, copy a product you designed, or list knock-offs on the marketplaces where you sell. We help you prepare, file and protect your trademarks and patents, in the United States and internationally, whether your business is based in the US or abroad.

What we cover

Trademarks

A registered trademark gives you the exclusive right to use your brand name, logo or slogan for your goods and services, and the legal tools to stop others copying it.

Before you file

• Clearance search: we check federal and state registers, international databases, domain names, marketplaces and social media for identical and confusingly similar marks.
• Strength assessment: descriptive names ("Best Coffee") are hard to register; distinctive or invented names are much stronger. We flag problems before they cost you a filing fee.
• Classes and descriptions: we identify the right classes under the international (Nice) classification and write identifications of goods and services that are accepted by the USPTO and broad enough to protect your business.

Filing in the United States

• The right filing basis: use in commerce if you're already selling in the US, intent to use if you plan to, or a foreign application or registration if you're a non-US business with rights at home.
• Foreign priority: if you've filed in your home country within the last six months, a US application can claim that earlier filing date under the Paris Convention.
• Specimens and evidence: we prepare acceptable proof of use, such as product labels, packaging or website screenshots that show the mark used with the goods or services.

From filing to registration

• Examination: a USPTO examining attorney reviews the application. If they issue an office action, we prepare the response, which is normally due within three months (extendable once by three more).
• Publication: approved marks are published in the Official Gazette, opening a 30-day window in which third parties can oppose.
• Intent-to-use applications: after a notice of allowance, a statement of use must be filed within six months, with extensions available up to three years.
• Registration and upkeep: a US registration must be maintained with a declaration of use between the fifth and sixth years, and renewed every ten years. We track every deadline for you.

International trademarks

Through the Madrid Protocol, a single international application based on your home application or registration can extend protection to more than 100 countries and regions. Where Madrid isn't the best route, or a country isn't a member, we coordinate direct national filings. We help you prioritise markets by where you sell, manufacture and expect to be copied.

Patents

A patent gives you the right to stop others making, using or selling your invention for a limited time. Getting one depends on filing at the right moment and describing the invention well.

Timing matters

• File before you disclose. The US uses a first-inventor-to-file system and gives a one-year grace period for your own public disclosures, but most other countries don't. Showing, selling or publishing your invention before filing can destroy your rights abroad.
• Provisional applications: a lower-cost US provisional application secures a filing date and lets you use "patent pending" for 12 months, while you test the market and refine the invention.
• Priority deadlines: you have 12 months from your first filing to file the full US application and to file abroad while keeping your original priority date.

What we prepare

• Patentability searches of patents and published literature to assess novelty and shape the claims.
• Utility patent applications: specification, claims and drawings for new products, processes, software-related inventions and improvements. Utility patents generally last 20 years from filing, with maintenance fees due 3½, 7½ and 11½ years after grant.
• Design patents for the ornamental appearance of a product, lasting 15 years from grant in the US.
• PCT international applications, which keep your options open in over 150 countries and typically delay national filing costs until 30 months from your priority date.

Prosecution and grant

Patent examination often involves several rounds of objections from the examiner. We prepare responses and claim amendments, and help you decide when to narrow, argue or appeal. Many small businesses qualify for reduced USPTO fees as a small or micro entity, and we check your eligibility.

US and non-US clients

Some countries require inventions made there to be filed locally first, or cleared by a security review before filing abroad. We check these rules for every country involved before anything is filed.

Protecting what you've registered

• Watch services: we monitor new trademark applications and marketplace listings for marks that conflict with yours, so you can act before they're registered.
• Oppositions and cancellations: challenging conflicting applications and registrations before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and equivalent bodies abroad.
• Cease-and-desist letters to infringers, prepared and sent through licensed counsel.
• Marketplace brand protection: enrolling in programmes such as Amazon Brand Registry and filing takedowns for counterfeit and infringing listings.
• Customs recordation: recording registered trademarks with US Customs and Border Protection so counterfeit imports can be stopped at the border.
• Domain disputes: recovering domain names registered in bad faith through the UDRP.
• Deadline management: renewals, declarations of use and patent maintenance fees, all tracked so nothing lapses by accident.

How it works

1. Consultation. Tell us about your brand or invention, where you sell and where you plan to grow.
2. Search and strategy. We run searches and recommend what to protect, where, and in what order, with a clear quote.
3. Preparation and filing. We prepare the applications, you review and approve them, and we file.
4. Examination. We respond to office actions and keep you informed in plain language at every stage.
5. Registration and protection. Once registered or granted, we monitor for infringement and manage every renewal and maintenance deadline.

Why work with us

• AI-assisted searching and drafting: we use AI to search registers and patent literature faster and more thoroughly, and to prepare first drafts. Qualified professionals review and sign off every filing.
• Clear pricing: a fixed quote for each stage. Official fees charged by the USPTO, WIPO and national offices are listed separately in your quote.
• One partner for your brand and your software: we can protect your app or store name before you launch it, so you don't build on a brand you can't keep.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Rengstorff AI is not a law firm. Where the law requires it, such as representing non-US trademark applicants at the USPTO, prosecuting patent applications for others, or appearing in disputes, the work is carried out by licensed attorneys or registered patent practitioners in the relevant country. Timelines and requirements are summarised and can change; we confirm current rules for your case.