Preface
This brief note is not legal advice and is for educational purposes only.
Discussion
At the time that you file a trademark (mark) application it is classified into an International schedule of classes of goods and services (IC). Goods have 34 classes IC1-IC34 and Services have 11 classes IC35-IC45.
Now when you go to file a trademark application you need to specify the class it’s in and give a description of the goods or services. Now that sounds simple enough, however the USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office) has decided that if you want to write your own description that it will cost you extra versus some descriptions they already have.
At the current time (early 2025) the base filing fee for one trademark in one IC is $350. If you use a predefined description, there is no additional fee. HOWEVER, if you want to write your own description you get hit with an additional fee of $200 per class! And if your description goes over 1000 characters then there’s another $200 fee per class.
(Fees can be seen here: https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/fees-and-payment/uspto-fee-schedule#Trademark%20Fees )
If you’re thinking this is a little high, join the crowd. So now you’re interested in looking at the predefined descriptions for trademarks/services which do not incur the description fee. These can be found in the Trademark ID Manual.
What we have done for your convenience is downloaded the Trademark ID Manual (all of it) and converted it into a PDF with the header repeated on each page so that you can download and search.
The link is here: [this link needs to point to the PDF file on the heimlichlaw.com website]
We suggest you look at our Brief Note titled “Trademark – International Classifications” if you’re not familiar with what class your goods/services are in as this will help you narrow down the search.
Alternatively, just download the PDF file and start searching using the search function.
If you find a satisfactory description, use it if you are filing the trademark application, or let your attorney know as it will save a lot of time.
Conclusion
Have fun finding your description.
