Work with a real trademark attorney
Licensed U.S. trademark attorney. Flat $499 + USPTO fees at cost. No hourly billing, no packages, no upsells.
MARQ is an attorney-led trademark practice supervised by Mary Liberty, an Illinois-licensed attorney. Legal work is handled through MARQ’s attorney-review process rather than a form-filling workflow with a rubber-stamp review at the end. Federal registration is a flat $499 legal fee plus USPTO government fees of $350 per class, passed through at cost. One class: $849 all-in for the initial use-in-commerce application.
Meet MARQ’s lead attorney
Mary Liberty
Owner and Lead Attorney, MARQ Trademarks
Mary Liberty is admitted to practice in Illinois through the Supreme Court of Illinois (Attorney Registration No. 6336258; admitted 2021). She supervises MARQ’s client legal work and attorney-review process.
Credential information last reviewed 2026-08-11. Verify current registration and discipline information through the official Illinois lawyer search.
What the attorney actually does
A comprehensive clearance search and a written likelihood-of-confusion opinion, so you know before you spend. Class selection and the identification of goods and services, both of which can materially affect the scope and examination of an application. The filing basis: use in commerce or intent-to-use, which determines whether you can lock in a name before you launch. Specimen review, so a valid mark is not lost on a technicality. Then the filing itself, examination monitoring, and, if the USPTO pushes back, an office-action response.
Do you need an attorney to file a trademark?
If you are domiciled in the United States, you are allowed to file on your own. If you are foreign-domiciled, USPTO rules require a licensed U.S. attorney. Whether to retain counsel depends on the mark and filing. Search scope, class selection, identification wording, filing basis, and specimen evidence can all create legal or procedural issues before an examiner reviews the application. Attorney involvement provides matter-specific analysis, but it does not guarantee an outcome.
What it costs, in full
Free DIY search: $0. Comprehensive attorney search report: $49. Federal registration: $499 + $350 per class in USPTO fees at cost. Office action: $499 procedural, $999 substantive. Trademark monitoring: $99/year. That is the entire price list — see pricing, or compare us with the filing platforms.
DIY Search
- Preliminary federal USPTO search
- Availability signal & close matches
- No account or card
Pro Search Report
- Comprehensive federal clearance search of the USPTO register
- State business-registry (Secretary of State) search for common-law use
- Domain-name and social-handle availability checks
- Attorney-reviewed likelihood-of-confusion analysis
- Written availability recommendation
- Delivery through the client portal and email
Complete Registration
- Attorney-led comprehensive clearance search before filing
- Additional clearance searches for alternative proposed names if the initial name is unavailable before filing
- Class and filing-basis guidance
- Application preparation and USPTO filing
- Application status monitoring and client-portal updates
- USPTO fee $350/class, at cost
- Not selling yet? An intent-to-use filing adds a later Statement of Use cost: $100 service fee + $150/class USPTO fee. Not charged on use-in-commerce filings.
What is not included
- USPTO government fees, which are charged per class at cost
- A later Statement of Use or extension request for intent-to-use filings
- Office-action responses, oppositions, enforcement, litigation, or international filings
- A guarantee that the USPTO will approve or register the mark
Office Action Response
- $499 procedural response
- $999 substantive response
- Attorney review, drafting, and filing for the selected tier
- Upload your office action securely for classification
Scope by response type
Procedural ($499): technical requirements such as agreed identification, disclaimer, or specimen corrections. Substantive refusals requiring legal argument are excluded.
Substantive ($999): agreed legal response to a substantive refusal such as likelihood of confusion or descriptiveness.
Both tiers exclude appeals, TTAB proceedings, coexistence agreements, enforcement, litigation, and third-party or government costs not shown at checkout. No outcome is guaranteed.
Trademark Monitoring
- Automated monitoring of new federal trademark filings
- Alerts when the system identifies potentially conflicting filings
- Annual subscription with cancellation available before renewal
What is not included
- Attorney opinion, opposition filing, cease-and-desist letter, enforcement, or litigation
- Monitoring of state, foreign, domain-name, social-media, or marketplace sources
- A guarantee that every conflict or unregistered use will be detected
Three steps, no surprises
We handle the complexity so you can focus on running your business.
Search
Run the free instant search to check availability. Upgrade to a $49 attorney report for a full clearance opinion before you commit to filing.
Apply
Your attorney prepares and files the full federal application with the right classes and goods descriptions — flat fee, no surprises.
Monitor
We track your application through the USPTO review process and handle any office actions or conflicts that arise after registration.
Clear scope before filing
MARQ reviews the information you provide before filing. If a legal or factual issue changes the recommended service or prevents responsible filing, we explain it before proceeding and apply the written fee and refund terms in the Client Service Agreement. USPTO government fees are passed through at cost.
Talk to a trademark attorney
Start with a free search, or tell us about your mark and we will tell you straight whether it is worth filing.
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