No Fun: The Cheap Online Trademark Service Trap

Who doesn’t like to save money? I get it. I like a good bargain, too. I see the appeal of the online platforms like LegalZoom, Trademark Engine, and similar services that advertise cheap and fast trademark searches and filing. But here’s what they don’t tell you, or what’s buried in the fine print no one reads, based on what I’ve personally seen happen to clients who started with them:

• Their “searches” are usually automated only – no manual searching is done.
• You typically don’t get legal analysis of the results, just a printout of what the AI search found. At best you get a “ranked” results list that doesn’t come with advice. If a potential conflict shows up, they often don’t tell you whether it’s a legitimate concern or how much of a problem it could be. You’re often still responsible for interpreting the results—and for the consequences.
• They won’t tell you before doing the search if the search isn’t worth doing because your mark is ineligible for registration for one of the many reasons an application may be denied.

Note that I know these things because my clients didn’t feel confident in the service they got from an online service, so they then hired me to do the job properly.

Most of these online services are not law firms, meaning they don’t and can’t represent you before the USPTO after they file your application. The ones that do offer limited scope legal services have the equivalent of fast-food prices in the legal world. Ask yourself why that is. In other words, relying on the cheap online services is like using WebMD to see if your symptoms are signs of heart failure. You might get the right answer . . . or you might miss something big and potentially fatal.