A. Applying for Registration: An Overview

Filling out and filing a trademark application for your domain name with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is a snap. The PTO website offers two online application programs, called e-TEAS and PrinTEAS. According to the PTO, it shouldn't take you more than 20 minutes to complete the application.
The filing fee for registering most domain name marks is $325. It can go up if your website will be offering a number of different types of services.
To complete the registration process, you must actually be using the domain name on a website. However, you can start the application process on the ground that you intend to use the name in the near future (called an intent-to-use application). If you go on to actually use it and complete theregistration process, your application date will also be considered the date of first use for the markwhich will give you a priority claim over later users. (See Chapter 3 for more on trademark ownership priorities.)
Although it's easy and quick to apply for trademark registration, the processing of your application can take a year or more. The PTO is overbooked and understaffed these days. In the meantime, your actual or intended domain name will appear in the PTO's trademark database as a pending trademark. Anyone doing a trademark search (see Chapter 6) will find your name and know that you are claiming it as a trademark. This in itself gives you a lot of protection because it will deter others from pursuing your name as a trademark.