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The Zest

Is LegalZoom Legit for Trademarks? Read the Fine Print, Not the Stars

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Yes, LegalZoom is a real company, and the trademark applications it files are real USPTO filings. That doesn't settle whether it's the right choice for you. The useful questions are who actually does the legal work, what the package covers if the USPTO pushes back, and which costs sit outside the advertised price. Those are the same questions to ask of any online trademark company, and you can answer most of them before you pay.

What LegalZoom says it is

Start with the company's own description. The footer of LegalZoom's trademark registration page says LegalZoom "is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice, except where authorized through its subsidiary law firm LZ Legal Services, LLC." It also says LegalZoom "provides access to independent attorneys and self-service tools," and that LZ Legal Services is authorized and licensed by the Arizona Supreme Court.

So there are two different things under one brand. One is software and document help. The other is legal work done by attorneys. When you read a review, it's worth knowing which one the reviewer bought.

The trademark registration page describes a package in which an attorney runs a federal and common law search, gives advice on the odds of success, selects the classes and files the application. That's a different product from filling out a form yourself. Offerings change, so read the current page for whatever you're considering, line by line.

What the USPTO says about filing companies

The USPTO has its own guidance on filing firms, and it applies to every company in this space, not only LegalZoom.

The agency says it doesn't work with or endorse any private filing firm. It says only US-licensed attorneys can give legal advice or represent you at the USPTO, and that "agents" and "specialists" aren't US-licensed attorneys. It tells applicants to ask for the attorney's bar number and check it with the state bar. And it says no one but you or your attorney can sign your trademark filing. For a business, "you" includes someone with authority to sign for it, such as an officer. The filing company itself doesn't count.

The USPTO also says it has acted against filing firms that break its rules. Those actions have included cutting off USPTO.gov account access, striking filed documents and terminating applications. The documents struck and the applications terminated belong to applicants, so the applicant bears the consequences. That's the real risk with a company you can't verify, and it's why checking the attorney matters more than checking the logo.

One more point from the same page: the USPTO says plainly that "there is no requirement that you register your trademark." Using a name in business can create rights on its own, though they're narrower than a registration's. A company that tells you that you won't own anything unless it files for you is giving you a reason to slow down.

Why reviews only tell part of the story

Online reviews of trademark services tend to describe the part of the process that happens right away: checkout, the questionnaire, how fast the application went in, how responsive support was. Those things matter. But the result that matters most usually arrives months later, when the USPTO examines the application.

If the examining attorney raises a problem, what happens next depends on what you bought. LegalZoom's trademark registration page, for example, lists responses only to "minor procedural office actions," such as a disclaimer requirement or amending a mark description, and says its law firm "may choose, at its sole discretion" whether to respond even to those. A refusal based on a conflict with another registered mark is a different kind of problem. Read how any package handles that before you buy, not after the letter arrives.

Refund promises deserve the same close reading. LegalZoom's page describes a waived fee for a second registration if the first is finally refused, and specifies that it covers LegalZoom's fees only. Read any guarantee for whether it covers government fees, because government fees are a separate matter. The USPTO's rules allow refunds of fees paid by mistake or in excess of what was required, and say a change of purpose, such as deciding to withdraw an application, doesn't entitle you to a refund. The filing fee, currently $350 per class for a base application, generally isn't coming back because the mark didn't register.

A review can't tell you whether a given application was ever likely to register. Some names face problems no filer can fix, and some would register with almost any competent filing. Reviews rarely tell you which kind of name the reviewer had, or whether a refusal could have been overcome.

Questions to ask any trademark filing service

These work whether you're looking at LegalZoom, another online service or a law firm.

  • What's the name of the attorney who will do the work and sign or file the application, and what's their bar number?
  • Is a search included, and will an attorney give me an opinion on it, or only a list of results?
  • Which kinds of office actions are covered, and what does a response cost if mine isn't?
  • Are USPTO fees included in the price, or charged separately?
  • Who watches deadlines after filing and after registration?

The USPTO also tells applicants to "confirm USPTO fee amounts yourself" on its fee schedule. I go deeper on vetting a lawyer in the article on choosing a trademark attorney.

Your other options

You don't have to use a filing company or a law firm at all. If you or your company is domiciled in the United States, the USPTO lets you file and handle the application yourself. If you're domiciled abroad, you need a US-licensed attorney. The article on whether you need a lawyer explains where that line sits.

The choices really sit on a range: filing on your own, a self-service tool, an attorney-assisted package through an online company, or a lawyer or firm you hire directly. They differ in price, in how much legal judgment you get, and in who's responsible when something goes wrong. The article on what a trademark attorney costs lays out how lawyers usually structure fees, so you can compare like with like.

A last note on the word "legit." Plenty of the trademark mail small businesses receive isn't from any company they hired. Official-looking notices demanding payment are a common scam, and the USPTO says it doesn't send invoices. If that's what prompted your search, read the article on fake trademark notices first.

To see how a flat-fee practice handles the same steps, there's the services page, and the FAQs page covers the questions people usually ask before booking.

Book a free 15-minute discovery call with the attorney (opens in a new tab)

(No legal advice is given on the discovery call. It's a chance to tell me what you're building and hear how the process works.)

Sources

This article is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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