If you have been mulling filing a trademark application for your business or establishment, you should know that there are actually three types of filing that you can choose from. Read below to know more trademark info.

The first time of application costs $225 and is filed online with the US Trademark Office. The second type of filing costs $275 and is still done electronically on the trademark office's website. The difference between the two is that with the latter, your goods or service does not have to be selected from the trademark office's manual. The third type of filing costs $400 and is done purely offline, going back and forth between the post office and you.

If you need more info on the different types of filing, you should go to the webpage https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks-application-process/filing-online. You will find extensive info there.

What is a trademark? It is basically a branding creative output like a logo or a tagline that is legally associated to your company. Take, for example, the case of Nike. The check mark is the logo and Just Do It is the tagline. Both are trademarks registered to the world's largest athletic shoe company.

If you are about to apply for your trademark, make sure that you check the US trademark office trademark info database for any pending application or any approved application for trademarks that are identical or similar to yours. Do not miss this step. Obviously, if another company got to your tagline first, the government will rule in their favor.

Even if you are a small mom-and-pop shop, you will still want to apply for trademark protection so you don't get into legal trouble if some big company has a logo or tagline that sounds eerily similar or identical to yours.