Influencers and public figures should build trademark portfolios around the commercial assets consumers actually recognize, not around every phrase, hashtag, or piece of content they create.
For many personal brands, the first priority is a central house mark, such as the individual’s legal name, professional name, nickname, stage name, or long-used online identity. As the business grows, additional registrations may become appropriate for distinctive logos, signatures, catchphrases, merchandise brands, product-line names, endorsement services, educational programs, or other commercially significant offerings.
One federal registration rarely covers everything.
A registration for a personal name used with entertainment or appearance services does not automatically provide direct registration coverage for apparel, cosmetics, downloadable products, memberships, or other ventures. Likewise, registering the name itself does not automatically register a separate logo or catchphrase.
The USPTO’s current Name, Image, and Likeness guidance expressly recognizes names, nicknames, signatures, likeness-based designs, catchphrases, voices, and recurring gestures as potential trademark assets when they function as commercial source identifiers.
The objective is therefore not to register every aspect of a public identity. It is to create a coordinated portfolio protecting the names, designs, and other identifiers responsible for meaningful commercial value.
Key Takeaways
Start with the primary house mark. The personal or professional name consumers use to identify the influencer’s overall business will often deserve priority over temporary slogans or individual campaign names.
Treat secondary marks selectively. A long-term product-line name, signature logo, or recurring catchphrase may deserve its own registration. A one-time hashtag or video title usually presents a different value proposition.
Match registrations to actual business activities. The USPTO classifies goods and services into 45 International Classes, and fees are generally assessed by class. The current base application fee is $350 per class when the base filing requirements are satisfied.
Keep ownership consistent. The individual or company that actually owns the mark, or possesses the required bona fide intent for an intent-to-use filing, should be identified correctly from the beginning.
Separate trademark rights from NIL rights and sponsorship disclosure obligations. Trademark registration protects source-identifying commercial branding. NIL rights and FTC advertising rules address different issues.
What Is an Influencer Trademark Portfolio?
A trademark portfolio is the organized collection of trademarks that protect the commercially important parts of a personal brand.
An established influencer might operate under one recognizable personal name while also using a signature logo, recurring slogan, merchandise collection name, educational-program name, podcast brand, product label, and endorsement business.
Those elements can perform different trademark functions.
The personal name may serve as the overall house mark.
A product-line name may identify cosmetics or apparel.
A catchphrase might identify a merchandise collection.
A logo might appear independently from the influencer’s name.
An online professional identity might identify entertainment, educational, or subscription services.
Portfolio planning means determining which of those assets actually deserve federal protection and then matching each one to the goods or services for which consumers recognize it.
What Should an Influencer Trademark First?
For many personal brands, the strongest first priority is the principal name or professional identity that functions across the business.
This might be the influencer’s legal name, stage name, nickname, professional name, or another established public-facing identity.
The reason is strategic.
A primary house mark can remain important even when individual products, sponsors, designs, and campaigns change.
An influencer may discontinue one clothing collection, replace a logo, stop using a temporary slogan, or launch new services. The central personal brand can continue connecting those activities for years.
That does not mean fame alone creates a trademark.
The USPTO’s NIL guidance emphasizes that personal identifiers receive trademark protection when they function as source indicators for goods or services.
The influencer should therefore ask not simply, “What name am I known by?” but “What name do consumers encounter as the brand behind my commercial activities?”
Is an Influencer’s Legal Name Always the Best House Mark?
No.
Some public figures are commercially known primarily by nicknames, stage names, online names, or professional identities.
The trademark portfolio should reflect how consumers actually identify the brand.
If an influencer’s legal name rarely appears in commerce while a professional name appears on every website, appearance, sponsorship, merchandise item, and program, the professional name may have substantially greater commercial importance.
Current USPTO consent rules also expressly recognize that nicknames, pseudonyms, and stage names can identify particular living individuals.
The legal name can still have value, but trademark investment should follow the real commercial identity rather than an assumption that formal names automatically deserve priority.
Should Influencers Trademark Every Catchphrase or Hashtag?
Usually not.
Influencers frequently create slogans, hashtags, recurring expressions, content-series titles, and promotional phrases.
Some can become valuable trademarks. Many will not.
A useful portfolio question is whether consumers recognize the phrase as a continuing commercial brand rather than simply as something the influencer says.
The influencer should also consider longevity.
A phrase expected to remain important for five years and support merchandise, licensing, or recurring commercial services presents a stronger filing candidate than a phrase connected to one viral post.
Revenue, consumer recognition, licensing potential, likelihood of copying, and rebranding cost are useful considerations.
Federal registration should support a commercial objective, not simply create a collection of certificates.
Can a Catchphrase Be Part of an Influencer Trademark Portfolio?
Yes, when the phrase genuinely functions as a trademark.
The USPTO’s NIL guidance expressly identifies catchphrases as potential personal-brand trademark assets.
The phrase still must satisfy ordinary trademark principles.
A highly common motivational statement or informational expression may be difficult to protect if consumers primarily understand its message rather than perceive it as identifying one source.
Consistent branding can strengthen the commercial role of a distinctive phrase.
An influencer might use it as the name of a recurring program, merchandise collection, event series, or other offering rather than simply placing it occasionally in captions.
Should an Influencer Register Their Name and Logo Separately?
Often, yes.
A word mark and a logo protect different presentations.
The USPTO allows a trademark drawing to be either standard characters or special form. A standard-character registration protects the wording without restricting the registration to one font, size, color, or graphical presentation.
A special-form registration protects the particular stylization or design shown in the application.
The USPTO explains that standard-character registration generally provides the broadest protection for wording. It also permits only one trademark per application, so separate applications are needed when an owner wants to register materially different versions such as the word mark, standalone logo, and combined design.
For an influencer with a limited initial filing budget, protecting the central name in standard characters may therefore be more durable than prioritizing a logo that could change during the next rebrand.
When Should an Influencer Register a Logo?
A logo deserves greater priority when it has developed independent commercial recognition.
For example, an influencer may have a distinctive monogram, signature, portrait-based symbol, icon, or graphical design that consumers recognize even when the person’s name does not appear beside it.
That design may warrant separate protection.
A frequently changing campaign graphic presents a weaker candidate.
The portfolio should distinguish permanent brand architecture from temporary creative execution.
This is especially important for digital creators because visual identities can change much faster than traditional corporate branding.
Can an Influencer Trademark a Signature, Voice, or Gesture?
Potentially.
The USPTO’s current NIL guidance specifically recognizes signatures, voice phrases, and recurring gestures among personal identifiers that can potentially function as trademarks.
These are more specialized forms of protection.
A signature can be filed as a stylized design when appropriate.
A distinctive voice phrase may involve sound-mark requirements.
A recurring motion or gesture can involve nontraditional trademark issues.
Recognition alone is still insufficient. Consumers must encounter the claimed feature as identifying commercial source.
Should Every New Influencer Product Get Its Own Trademark?
No.
A new product does not automatically need a separate product-line trademark.
Suppose an influencer owns the house mark MARA VELIN and launches three skincare products simply called Hydrating Cleanser, Daily Moisturizer, and Mineral Sunscreen.
Those descriptive product names may not justify separate trademark investment.
If the influencer instead develops a distinctive skincare sub-brand called VELUNE that will appear across a long-term product family, VELUNE may present a more valuable independent trademark.
The question is whether the secondary name has developed, or is intended to develop, its own source-identifying significance.
A portfolio should protect commercially meaningful brand layers rather than every label appearing on every product.
Does Clearing the Influencer’s Name Clear Their Future Product Names?
No.
Every important new product-line mark should receive its own clearance analysis.
The fact that an influencer successfully registered a personal name does not establish that an unrelated skincare, clothing, podcast, beverage, or course name is legally available.
The USPTO recommends comprehensive clearance searching that extends beyond exact federal registrations and includes potentially conflicting common-law use.
Each major secondary mark should therefore be treated as its own brand decision.
Clearance should occur before packaging, merchandise, websites, licensing agreements, or substantial advertising make changing the name expensive.
Who Should Own an Influencer’s Trademark Portfolio?
The answer depends on the actual business structure.
The influencer may personally own the central personal-brand trademark and license it to an operating company.
Alternatively, an influencer-owned LLC or corporation may own the trademark portfolio and conduct merchandise, endorsements, appearances, licensing, and product development through that entity.
Either approach can work when properly structured.
The problem arises when the applicant is selected merely because one company happens to be convenient for filing.
Trademark ownership should correspond to actual commercial ownership and control.
If the portfolio later changes ownership through restructuring, sale, or assignment, the USPTO’s Assignment Center is used to record ownership transfers and certain owner-name changes.
Why Does Trademark Ownership Matter So Much for Influencers?
Personal brands commonly involve several businesses at once.
An influencer may have a personal services company, merchandise company, media production entity, IP holding company, and outside management agency.
Those entities are legally distinct.
The company receiving sponsorship payments is not automatically the trademark owner.
The merchandise manufacturer is not automatically the trademark owner.
The management company coordinating the filing does not automatically own the personal brand.
Ownership should be decided intentionally and reflected consistently across trademark applications, licenses, sponsorship agreements, websites, invoices, and enforcement communications.
This becomes particularly important when outside investors or commercial partners enter the business.
Does an Influencer-Owned LLC Need Consent to Register the Influencer’s Name?
Generally, the living-person consent requirements should be addressed when the mark identifies the influencer individually.
Current TMEP §813 states that a name, portrait, or signature identifying a particular living individual requires the person’s written consent to registration. The requirement can also apply to a pseudonym, stage name, or nickname when it identifies a specific living person.
An influencer-owned LLC and the influencer personally are separate legal parties.
The fact that the influencer owns the company does not mean living-person requirements should be ignored.
Current USPTO filing rules also require applications containing a person’s name or portrait to include the appropriate living-person identification and consent information, or a statement that the matter does not identify a living person, to satisfy the applicable base filing requirements.
Is Permission to Use an Influencer’s Name the Same as Permission to Register It?
No.
An influencer can authorize a sponsor to use a name, photograph, or likeness in an advertising campaign without transferring ownership of the trademark or consenting to the sponsor registering the identifier as its own brand.
These rights should be separated contractually.
An endorsement agreement might permit a company to use the influencer’s name and image for a six-month campaign.
A trademark license might authorize the company to sell approved products under an established influencer-owned trademark.
An assignment would transfer trademark ownership.
Those transactions are materially different.
Personal-brand agreements should use precise language rather than treating all permissions as generic “usage rights.”
How Should an Influencer Map Trademarks to Goods and Services?
Start by identifying what customers actually buy or receive.
The USPTO currently organizes goods and services into 45 International Classes.
An influencer might provide endorsement services, entertainment, personal appearances, educational services, consulting, subscriptions, or online community services.
The same person might sell apparel, cosmetics, printed books, downloadable materials, jewelry, beverages, or other products.
Those activities can fall into different classes.
The application should identify the actual commercial offering rather than vague concepts such as “influencer services” or “personal brand services.”
The classifications should follow the business model.
Is Endorsing Another Company’s Product the Same as Selling Your Own Product?
No.
This distinction is particularly important for influencers.
When an influencer promotes another company’s product for compensation, the commercial activity can involve endorsement or advertising services.
When the influencer launches a skincare product under their own brand, the trademark is being used with that product.
Those are different trademark activities.
The USPTO’s current NIL guidance specifically discusses endorsement services and personal appearances as examples of trademarkable services involving NIL.
A registration for endorsement services does not automatically provide direct registration coverage for the products the influencer endorses.
Likewise, owning a clothing registration does not automatically register the influencer’s endorsement business.
What Does It Cost to Build a Multiclass Influencer Trademark Portfolio?
The current USPTO base application fee is $350 per International Class when the application satisfies the requirements for the base fee.
The USPTO explains that filing fees are calculated by the number of classes covered. An application containing one class has a $350 base fee, while two classes have a $700 base filing fee before any additional applicable charges.
The USPTO’s NIL guidance confirms the same $350-per-class base filing fee.
This makes prioritization important.
A growing influencer should not necessarily register five marks across eight classes simultaneously merely because every combination is theoretically possible.
Protect the marks and commercial activities that matter most first.
Can an Influencer File Before Launching a New Business?
Yes.
A Section 1(b) intent-to-use application allows an applicant with a good-faith intention to use a trademark in commerce to begin the registration process before actual commercial use starts.
The USPTO’s current ITU guidance, updated March 25, 2026, confirms that actual use is not required at the initial application stage, although use must later be established before registration.
This can be useful while an influencer is developing a clothing collection, negotiating with a manufacturer, building a course, preparing a membership platform, designing a product, or finalizing a licensing arrangement.
An earlier filing date can also become important if a later conflict develops.
Should Influencers File Intent-to-Use Applications for Every Future Idea?
No.
Intent-to-use applications require a bona fide intention to use the trademark for the identified goods or services.
They should not be treated as a reservation system for every slogan, product idea, or business concept an influencer might someday pursue.
Commercial preparation should be real.
The influencer should preserve evidence such as development records, contracts, product designs, manufacturer discussions, website work, marketing plans, and launch schedules supporting the intended venture.
A focused ITU strategy can protect genuine expansion without creating a portfolio filled with speculative applications that never become real businesses.
Does Merchandise Require a Different Trademark Strategy?
Often.
Merchandise creates a recurring USPTO problem because wording used decoratively may fail to function as the trademark for the goods.
Current TMEP §1202.03 explains that matter can be refused when consumers perceive it as ornamentation rather than source identification.
It also recognizes secondary-source significance where decorative matter nevertheless identifies the entity responsible for or authorizing the merchandise.
For influencers, this means a personal name or catchphrase displayed prominently across a shirt does not automatically constitute clothing-trademark use.
Labels, hangtags, packaging, and other conventional source-identifying presentations should be considered before manufacturing begins.
Can an Existing Personal-Brand Registration Help With Merchandise?
Potentially.
The secondary-source doctrine can be especially useful for personal brands.
Current TMEP §1202.03(c) recognizes ownership of certain Principal Register registrations for the same mark covering other goods or services, as well as qualifying non-ornamental use, as potential evidence that decorative matter also identifies a secondary source.
Imagine an influencer who has an established registration for personal appearances and endorsement services and later launches official apparel.
Consumers may understand a shirt bearing the influencer’s established name as authorized merchandise originating from that personal brand, even though another company physically manufactures the shirt.
The existing portfolio can therefore reinforce later commercial expansion when the evidentiary requirements are satisfied.
Should Influencers Separate Trademark Strategy From FTC Sponsorship Rules?
Yes.
Trademark ownership and advertising disclosure compliance solve different problems.
The FTC’s current influencer guidance states that material relationships between an endorser and a brand should be disclosed clearly. Material connections can include financial, employment, personal, or family relationships, as well as free or discounted products or other things of value.
The FTC also emphasizes that disclosures should be difficult to miss and presented with the endorsement message itself.
Trademark registration does not replace those obligations.
An influencer can properly own a registered trademark and still need to disclose a paid relationship when promoting another company’s product.
Sponsorship agreements should therefore address both intellectual-property permissions and advertising compliance.
What Should an Influencer Sponsorship Agreement Say About Trademarks?
The agreement should identify which names, nicknames, logos, photographs, signatures, catchphrases, and other brand assets the sponsor may use.
It should explain the permitted media, campaign period, territory, approval process, and termination rights.
Most importantly, it should distinguish permission to advertise with the influencer’s identity from trademark ownership.
A sponsor paying for an endorsement campaign should not automatically acquire the right to register the influencer’s personal mark, create unrelated products under the name, or continue commercial use indefinitely after the relationship ends.
Those rights should be granted only when expressly intended.
What Should an Influencer Trademark License Include?
A trademark license should identify the trademark owner, licensed marks, permitted products or services, territory, duration, distribution channels, approval rights, sublicensing restrictions, and termination procedures.
Quality control is particularly important.
The personal brand represents a source promise. If another company manufactures products under the influencer’s trademark, the owner should retain meaningful authority over the branded products and presentation.
The agreement should also explain what happens when the license ends.
A limited sell-off period for previously approved inventory can be distinguished from continued manufacturing of new goods.
This reduces the risk that a former authorized partner later becomes an unauthorized merchandise seller.
Can an Influencer’s Portfolio Extend Internationally?
Yes, but U.S. registration does not automatically create trademark protection around the world.
The Madrid Protocol allows eligible trademark owners to pursue protection in more than 120 countries and regional intellectual-property offices through a centralized international filing framework. Each jurisdiction still applies its own trademark law when examining protection.
There is also an important current procedural change.
As of September 2, 2026, U.S. applicants may use either TEASi or WIPO’s Madrid e-Filing for new outbound Madrid applications. Beginning October 1, 2026, Madrid e-Filing will become the sole platform for initial international applications based on U.S. applications or registrations.
Influencers considering international expansion should therefore coordinate filing strategy with genuine geographic business plans.
Should an Influencer Register in Every Country Where They Have Followers?
Usually not.
Social media audiences are global, but trademark budgets should follow commercial relevance.
The stronger international priorities are often countries where the influencer has meaningful customers, merchandise sales, sponsorships, licensing arrangements, events, manufacturing activity, or planned expansion.
A large following in a country may also matter when the brand is actively monetizing that audience.
International searches should consider local-language meanings, transliterations, existing trademarks, and country-specific rules before major commercial launches.
The Madrid Protocol can simplify administration, but filing everywhere without a commercial rationale is not necessarily an efficient portfolio strategy.
How Should Influencers Protect Against Fake Accounts and AI Impersonation?
Monitoring should become part of portfolio management.
The USPTO’s 2026 NIL initiative expressly highlights the importance of personal-brand protection in an environment where AI can create realistic impersonations and unauthorized digital content.
For an influencer, monitoring may include the principal name, nickname, common misspellings, logos, catchphrases, signatures, merchandise brands, and other distinctive identifiers.
Commercially significant unauthorized uses should be preserved before enforcement.
Screenshots, account information, advertisements, URLs, marketplace listings, customer communications, and dates can become relevant later.
Trademark registration can strengthen certain takedown and enforcement efforts, but NIL, publicity, contract, platform, copyright, and false-endorsement rights may also apply depending on the conduct.
Should AI and Digital Replicas Be Addressed in Influencer Contracts?
Increasingly, yes.
A commercial agreement should specify whether a partner may create or use AI-generated versions of the influencer’s image, voice, likeness, signature, or other personal identity.
The authorization should distinguish between ordinary editing and creating new synthetic content that the individual never recorded or performed.
Parties should also address ownership, approval rights, permitted uses, training or reuse of digital assets where relevant, duration, termination, and whether synthetic material may remain available after the relationship ends.
Trademark protection forms only one component of this broader personal-brand control.
How Often Should an Influencer Review Their Trademark Portfolio?
At least periodically, and an annual review is a practical baseline for an active personal brand.
Business activity can change quickly.
An influencer may add a merchandise category, stop providing a service, launch a new product line, sign an international license, reorganize companies, or discontinue an old catchphrase.
Trademark records should evolve accordingly.
The USPTO requires continued use and regular maintenance filings to keep federal registrations alive. For ordinary non-Madrid registrations, a Section 8 filing is due between the fifth and sixth years after registration, followed by combined Sections 8 and 9 filings between the ninth and tenth years and every ten years afterward.
Missing required maintenance filings can result in cancellation or expiration.
What Should an Annual Influencer Trademark Audit Review?
The audit should compare the federal portfolio against the real business.
Are the primary trademarks still being used?
Have major new product-line names been launched without filings?
Are old products permanently discontinued?
Do pending intent-to-use applications have upcoming deadlines?
Are licenses still active?
Does the USPTO record identify the correct owner?
Has the influencer restructured the business?
Do current specimens and website materials demonstrate appropriate trademark use?
Are important international markets becoming commercially relevant?
The objective is to keep the portfolio aligned with the business rather than allowing registrations and applications to become a historical record of ideas that no longer matter.
How Should a Growing Influencer Prioritize Trademark Spending?
Start with commercial value and risk.
For many influencers, the order may look roughly like this in practice:
The primary personal or professional name comes first because it supports the entire brand.
A major product-line name may come next when it will generate meaningful revenue independently.
A distinctive logo or signature may deserve protection when consumers recognize it separately.
Endorsement, entertainment, educational, or appearance services should be covered when those activities form a material part of the business.
Merchandise categories deserve additional protection when official merchandise is commercially important or frequently copied.
International filings become more valuable as commercial activity expands outside the United States.
The exact order will differ by personal brand.
The principle is that every filing should answer the question: What commercially important problem will this registration help solve?
Example: Building a Trademark Portfolio for a Growing Creator
Suppose a fitness creator becomes widely known under the professional name MAYA RHODES.
At first, MAYA RHODES identifies online fitness entertainment and coaching services.
As the business develops, the creator launches RHODES METHOD as a structured training program, a distinctive MR monogram, apparel under the MAYA RHODES name, and a paid partnership business promoting third-party fitness products.
The trademark portfolio may therefore develop in layers.
MAYA RHODES remains the house mark.
RHODES METHOD receives separate protection because it identifies an independently valuable program.
The MR monogram may justify a special-form application.
The apparel business requires appropriate product protection and specimens.
Endorsement services may justify service coverage distinct from the influencer’s own products.
The portfolio grows because the business grows, not because every new social media expression receives an application.
Frequently Asked Questions About Influencer Trademark Portfolios
Can an influencer trademark their name?
Yes, when the name functions as a source identifier for goods or services. The USPTO’s current NIL guidance expressly recognizes personal names as potential trademarks.
Can an influencer trademark a username or professional name?
Potentially, if consumers perceive it as identifying the source of commercial goods or services and the mark otherwise qualifies for registration.
Should influencers trademark every catchphrase?
No. Registration is most valuable for distinctive phrases expected to have continuing commercial importance.
Should an influencer trademark the name or logo first?
For many brands with limited budgets, the central name in standard characters may provide the most flexible starting point. The USPTO states that standard-character registration generally provides broader protection for the wording.
Can an influencer’s LLC own the trademark?
Yes, when the LLC is the actual owner or appropriate bona fide-intent applicant. Ownership should correspond to the real business structure.
Does an LLC need the influencer’s consent to register their name?
When the trademark identifies a particular living individual, the USPTO’s living-person consent requirements generally apply.
Can influencers file trademarks before launching products?
Yes. A bona fide Section 1(b) intent-to-use application can be filed before actual commercial use begins.
How much is the USPTO filing fee?
The current base application fee is $350 per International Class when the base filing requirements are satisfied. Additional fees may apply depending on the application.
Are NIL rights the same as trademark rights?
No. NIL rights may arise under state laws, contracts, organizational policies, and other protections. Federal trademark rights apply when the identifier functions as commercial source identification.
Does a trademark registration eliminate FTC sponsorship disclosures?
No. Influencers must separately comply with advertising rules concerning disclosure of material connections with brands.
Can an influencer protect their brand internationally?
Yes. Eligible U.S. owners can use the Madrid Protocol to pursue protection in more than 120 countries and regional intellectual-property offices, subject to examination in each designated jurisdiction.
How often should an influencer review the portfolio?
A periodic review is important, with an annual audit providing a practical opportunity to review current use, ownership, licenses, pending deadlines, new brands, and discontinued activities.
Final Thoughts
Influencers and public figures should build trademark portfolios as organized business assets rather than treating one name registration as protection for an entire personal identity.
The strongest portfolio usually begins with the house mark consumers use to identify the individual commercially.
As the business expands, separate registrations may become appropriate for major product-line names, distinctive logos, signatures, catchphrases, endorsement services, merchandise categories, and other commercially significant assets.
Those registrations should follow the actual business.
The USPTO’s current 2026 NIL guidance recognizes names, nicknames, signatures, likeness-based designs, catchphrases, voices, and gestures as potential personal-brand trademark assets, but each must function as a genuine source identifier.
Ownership should also remain deliberate and consistent. The influencer, an IP holding company, or another entity may own the portfolio depending on the structure, but applications should accurately reflect the rights that actually exist.
Commercial agreements require equal attention.
Sponsors should receive clearly defined endorsement or advertising rights rather than unintended ownership of the personal brand. Merchandise and licensing agreements should preserve trademark ownership and quality control. FTC disclosure requirements should remain separate from trademark strategy.
Finally, the portfolio should change as the business changes.
New commercial ventures may justify new filings. Discontinued offerings should be removed when appropriate. International expansion should follow meaningful markets. Registrations must remain in use and receive timely maintenance filings.
An effective influencer trademark portfolio is therefore not the largest possible collection of applications.
It is the smallest coherent group of rights that protects the names, designs, and commercial identifiers responsible for the personal brand’s long-term value.
Primary Authorities and Sources
The USPTO’s Name, Image, and Likeness guidance, published March 26, 2026 and updated August 21, 2026, provides current federal guidance concerning trademark protection for personal names, nicknames, signatures, likeness-based designs, catchphrases, voices, gestures, endorsements, appearances, and related NIL branding.
The USPTO’s Goods and Services guidance explains the current 45-class International Classification system and confirms the $350 base application filing fee per class when the base filing requirements are met.
The USPTO’s Drawings and Specimens guidance distinguishes standard-character and special-form applications, explains their different scopes, and confirms that each application is limited to one trademark.
TMEP §813, May 2026 edition, addresses written consent when a trademark identifies a particular living individual and expressly applies the requirement to qualifying pseudonyms, stage names, and nicknames.
TMEP §1202.03 governs ornamental trademark use and the secondary-source doctrine relevant to influencer and celebrity merchandise.
USPTO Intent-to-Use guidance, updated March 25, 2026, explains Section 1(b) applications and the requirement that actual use eventually be established before registration.
USPTO Assignment Center guidance addresses transfers of trademark ownership and owner-name changes.
The FTC’s current Endorsements, Influencers, and Reviews guidance and Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers explain disclosure expectations for material connections between influencers and brands.
The USPTO’s Madrid Protocol guidance explains the centralized international filing framework covering more than 120 countries and regional intellectual-property offices. As of September 2026, the USPTO is transitioning outbound international applications to Madrid e-Filing, which becomes the sole initial filing platform on October 1, 2026.
USPTO registration-maintenance guidance explains the continuing-use requirement and the Section 8 and Sections 8 and 9 maintenance intervals necessary to preserve ordinary federal registrations.
About the Author
Abraham Cohn is Managing Partner of Cohn Legal, PLLC and heads the firm’s Intellectual Property and Transactional Group. His practice includes intellectual-property protection, trademark prosecution, licensing, counseling involving brands, content and persona rights, and commercial agreements involving the development, license, and transfer of intellectual property.