Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind—valuable, intangible assets that are legally protected similar to physical property. The main types include trademarks, which protect your brand identity; copyrights, which protect original creative works; patents, which protect inventions; and trade secrets, which protect confidential business information. At Kincaid Law KC, our intellectual property law services are primarily focused on trademark law.

Your IP is what sets you apart and builds brand equity. A strong, protected brand prevents competitors from causing customer confusion or profiting from your hard work. Legally protecting your IP is a foundational step in forming a business (including when forming LLCs) and is essential for preserving your market share, attracting investors, and safeguarding your reputation. Whether you’re a tech startup in the Crossroads, a retailer in the Plaza, or a service provider in Johnson County, your trademark is often the first thing customers recognize and remember. Kincaid Law KC serves businesses throughout the Kansas City metro area and nationwide, helping protect brands for local startups, expanding enterprises, and non-profit organizations.

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design—or a combination thereof—that identifies your business as the unique source of its goods or services. Your business name, logo, slogan, and product names are all potential trademarks. Understanding trademark law and obtaining a federal trademark registration are essential to gaining exclusive rights to your brand identity and preventing others from using it. Our blog post entitled “Trademark Law Fundamentals: Purpose, Value, and Core Concepts of Trademarks” provides a detailed definition of a trademark and explains their purpose.

They protect different types of assets. A trademark protects your brand identifiers (e.g., the Nike Swoosh logo). A copyright protects an original work of authorship once it is fixed in a tangible medium (e.g., the content of a book). They both, however, impose limitations on copying.

The process begins with a comprehensive trademark search to ensure your name is legally available. The next step is filing a detailed application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), specifying the exact goods or services the mark will be used for. An experienced Kansas City trademark attorney can manage the entire trademark registration process to give your application the best chance of success.

Common law trademark rights are established simply by using your brand name in commerce. However, these rights are generally limited to your immediate geographic area of use and can be more difficult to enforce than federally registered marks. If someone else registers your mark federally after you’ve been using it locally, you may be able to continue using it in your geographic area, but they could prevent you from expanding beyond that region. Federal registration provides superior nationwide protection and evidentiary advantages, making it a much more secure strategy for protecting your brand. This is why many Kansas businesses and Missouri businesses choose federal registration early to avoid trademark priority issues and secure nationwide rights.

While timelines vary significantly and there is no guarantee that a trademark application will ever mature to registration, the USPTO estimates the process to take between 12 and 18 months from filing to registration (as of January 2026), assuming no major legal objections arise. However, current processing times may differ, and the timeline depends on factors including the complexity of the mark, the examining attorney’s backlog, and whether any objections or Office Actions are issued. Our experience helps us prepare a strong trademark application designed to move through the process as smoothly as possible. For current processing time estimates, please consult the USPTO website or contact our office.

An Office Action is a formal letter from a USPTO examining attorney identifying a legal issue or requirement with your trademark application. These are very common and are issued electronically. A frequent objection is a “likelihood of confusion” with an existing trademark. Other common issues include specimen of use problems, international class selection errors, or descriptions of goods/services that are too broad or narrow. Responding effectively requires a persuasive legal argument to overcome the refusal. Experienced trademark counsel can assist in responding to USPTO Office Actions.

You must file a thorough and timely response, typically within three months from the issue date of the Office Action (though extensions may be available for additional fees), or your application will be abandoned. An Office Action is a formal legal proceeding, not a simple form. While applicants may respond pro se, seeking experienced legal counsel to draft the response is strongly recommended to protect your application and investment. Note that abandoned applications may be revived under certain circumstances within specific timeframes and upon payment of additional fees.

A strong trademark is highly distinctive and therefore easier to protect. Fanciful (e.g., made-up words like “Kodak”) and arbitrary (e.g., real words unrelated to the product, like “Apple” for computers or phones) marks are the strongest. Descriptive marks are weaker and harder to register. Legal guidance can help startups, established businesses, and nonprofits choose a name that offers the strongest possible legal protection.

Yes, it is possible to register a trademark without using an attorney. The USPTO’s application system is a legal process, and simple mistakes—such as filing in the wrong class, providing an improper specimen, or describing your services incorrectly—can lead to refusal or result in a registration that is too narrow to be enforced effectively. You may wish to read more about whether there are laws or regulations pertaining to who can provide trademark law advice. For Kansas City businesses, working with local trademark counsel familiar with both federal USPTO procedures and Kansas and Missouri business considerations can streamline the process and help avoid mistakes. Our office offers flexible consultation options including in-person meetings, video calls, and phone consultations to make professional trademark guidance accessible regardless of your location or schedule.

Trademark infringement generally occurs when there is unauthorized use of a mark that is likely to cause confusion, mistake, or deception among consumers about the source, origin, sponsorship, or approval of goods or services. Common scenarios include when someone is using your business name, a competitor is using your logo, or a startup has adopted your slogan without consent. Under the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 1114 and 1125), trademark owners have the right to prevent such unauthorized use. If you believe someone is infringing on your trademark, legal counsel can help you evaluate your claim and enforce your rights, often starting with a formal cease and desist letter.

A federally registered trademark can be protected indefinitely, as long as you continue to use it in commerce, file the required maintenance documents, and defend it against infringement. The owner is responsible for filing a Declaration of Use (and/or Excusable Nonuse) under Section 8 between the 5th and 6th years after registration, along with a Declaration of Use under Section 8 and an Application for Renewal under Section 9 combined filing between the 9th and 10th years after registration, and then every 10 years thereafter. Failure to file these maintenance documents will result in cancellation of the registration. Certain grace periods may be available upon payment of additional fees. We recommend setting calendar reminders or working with trademark counsel to manage these ongoing requirements.

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of goods (tangible products), while a service mark performs the same function for services rather than physical products. For example, a trademark would protect a brand name on clothing or electronics you can purchase, whereas a service mark would protect a brand name for consulting services, IT services, or landscaping services. Despite this distinction, trademarks and service marks function identically in terms of legal protection, registration requirements, and enforcement rights under U.S. law. The Lanham Act, which is the federal trademark statute, uses the term “trademark” broadly to encompass both types of marks. Both are registered through the same USPTO process, and the choice between designating your mark as a trademark or service mark simply depends on whether you are offering goods, services, or both under that brand name. Applicants filing federal applications with the USPTO are able to potentially obtain both service mark registrations and trademark registrations and have them listed on the same registration certificate.

Yes, NDAs are an essential tool for protecting your trade secrets and confidential information. You should consider using one any time you need to share confidential information with employees, contractors, or potential vendors. A well-drafted NDA creates a binding legal obligation to maintain confidentiality and gives you clear legal recourse in the event of a breach.

A trademark protects your brand identity. A patent protects an invention. Patents provide a limited-term right (15-20 years) on a new, useful, and non-obvious invention, preventing others from making, using, or selling it. A trademark, if properly maintained through continued use in commerce and timely filing of required maintenance documents and fees with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, can potentially be maintained indefinitely. While Kincaid Law KC provides trademark law services, it does not provide patent law services at this time.

Generally, yes. Even if your Kansas City business currently serves only local customers, in the digital age, nearly every business has potential national reach. A federal trademark protects your brand online and across all 50 states, subject to certain limitations for prior users. For example, a Kansas City restaurant with local-only operations today might expand to Overland Park, Lee’s Summit, or even franchise nationally tomorrow. It future-proofs your brand for expansion and generally prevents others in other states from using the same or confusingly similar name, which could confuse your customers and damage your reputation. However, the decision should be based on your specific business circumstances, including your expansion plans, budget, and the nature of your business operations. Note that our law firm, Kincaid Law KC, holds multiple federal trademark registrations even as a small, Kansas City-based business.

The total investment for a trademark includes the government filing fees paid directly to the USPTO, the legal fees for professional representation, as well as artistic fees potentially paid to a designer to assist with the creative development of the trademark. A reasonable first step to understanding the full cost for your specific situation is to contact us for a consultation. We can then discuss your branding needs and provide a clear explanation of the potential investment.

You may only use the ® symbol once your trademark is officially registered with the USPTO. Using ® before registration is unlawful and can undermine your application. However, you can use the ™ symbol (for goods) or ℠ symbol (for services) at any time to indicate that you are claiming trademark rights in a mark, even before filing an application. While not legally required, using these symbols puts others on notice of your claim and demonstrates your intent to protect your brand. Once your mark is federally registered, we strongly recommend using the ® symbol to maximize the legal benefits of your registration.

Yes. The USPTO does not police your trademark for you—that responsibility falls to you as the owner. Proactive monitoring helps you identify potential infringers early, when enforcement is typically less costly and more effective. Allowing unauthorized uses to continue unchecked can weaken your mark and may even result in loss of rights through abandonment or genericness. Trademark owners should consider establishing a regular monitoring strategy, which may include periodic searches of the USPTO database for confusingly similar applications, online marketplace monitoring, and domain name watches. Early detection allows trademark counsel to take swift action through opposition proceedings or cease and desist letters to protect your valuable brand investment.