Work with a real trademark attorney
Licensed U.S. trademark attorney. Flat $649 + 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 $649 legal fee plus USPTO government fees of $350 per class, passed through at cost. One class: $999 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. Federal knockout search: $79. Comprehensive clearance search: $249. Federal registration: $649 + $350 per class in USPTO fees at cost. Office action: $499 procedural, starting at $999 substantive. Trademark monitoring: $149/year. That is the entire price list — see pricing, or compare us with the filing platforms.
DIY Search
- Preliminary federal USPTO search
- Preliminary potential-conflict signal
- No account or card
Federal Knockout Search
- Search of the federal USPTO register for exact and confusingly similar marks
- Attorney review of the results (not an automated-only result)
- Written availability read on the federal register
- Delivery through the client portal and email
What is not included
- State business-registry (Secretary of State) common-law search
- Domain-name and social-handle availability checks
- A full written likelihood-of-confusion clearance opinion
- USPTO application preparation or filing
- A guarantee that the mark will register or remain unchallenged
Comprehensive Clearance Search
- Everything in the Federal Knockout Search
- 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
What is not included
- USPTO application preparation or filing
- State, international, domain-name, and marketplace disputes
- Handle checks on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or X (these cannot be verified reliably)
- A guarantee that the mark will register or remain unchallenged
Complete Registration
- Attorney-led comprehensive clearance search before filing
- Up to 2 additional clearance searches for alternative names before filing, requested through your portal or MARQ staff
- 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
- Custom (free-form) goods/services wording: an additional $200 USPTO fee per affected class for Section 1 or 44 applications; additional length fees may apply
- 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
- Common-law watch: state business registries, domain names and marketplace listings
- Alerts when the system identifies a potentially conflicting filing or use
- Annual subscription with cancellation available before renewal
What is not included
- Attorney review of what the watch finds — that is the Attorney Review tier
- Acting on a conflict: letter of protest, opposition, cancellation, cease-and-desist, enforcement or litigation are billed separately
- 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 the $79 federal knockout search for a fast attorney read of the register, or the $249 comprehensive clearance search for a full opinion across federal, state, domain and social sources.
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.
Ask 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 — answered by email, or in your portal once you have a matter open.
Get startedAsk a question