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U.S. Trademark Protection for Creators & Founders

You Built the Brand. Let's Make Sure It Stays Yours.

Your name. Your offers. The reputation you've spent years building. Right now, they may not legally be yours — and the first person to file can take them. Protecting your brand changes that: real ownership, nationwide, and the freedom to grow without looking over your shoulder.

Book a Strategy Call Get the Brand Name Checklist

Trusted by founders building in public · A decade inside the USPTO · 19 years of legal & corporate experience

What Changes

Build Like the Name Is Already Yours. Because It Will Be.

Protecting your brand isn't paperwork. It's the difference between building on rented land and building on something you own — and it changes how you show up.

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Stop looking over your shoulder. The name you've poured years into is legally yours — and no one can quietly file it out from under you.

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Grow on offense. Launch the next product, program, or collab without wondering how much unprotected brand you're exposing.

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Shut copycats down. When someone lifts your name, you'll have the standing to make them stop — not just a message they can ignore.

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Turn your brand into an asset. A registered name is something you can license, raise on, or sell one day. It's equity, not just a logo.

Book a Strategy Call

Is This You?

You've Outgrown "I'll Deal With It Later."

If your brand is becoming the thing people recognize, it's already worth protecting. This is for you if —

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Your business is making real money — and you're building it to last.

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People are starting to recognize your name, your offer, your face.

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You're heading toward investment, licensing, products, or a sale.

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You've poured money into branding, your site, your content, your ads.

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You have a signature offer or method others are already copying.

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You build in public — fully visible, and fully exposed until you file.

See If We're a Fit

The Hard Truth

Your LLC Doesn't Own Your Brand. Until You File, Anyone Else Could.

You named the business. Set up the LLC. Grabbed the handles. It feels like the name is yours — but legally, it isn't. And finding that out at six figures doesn't just cost legal fees. It costs the rebrand: your ads, your SEO, your email, and every customer who knew you by name.

✕ Your LLC

State Registration Only

It only stops someone in your state. A competitor a state away can use a confusingly similar name in your market — completely legally.

✕ Your Domain

Ownership Without Rights

Owning the .com proves nothing about the name. Two businesses can run it in the same industry. Whoever files first wins.

✕ Your Handles

A Placeholder, Not Protection

Platforms back whoever holds the registration. Your handle can be handed to someone with a mark — even if you built every follower.

✕ "Years of Use"

Patchwork Rights at Best

Using it for years buys you scattered, local rights. Someone registers a similar name and they can shut you down nationwide — even with receipts.

A federal trademark is the one thing that makes the name truly yours. Nationwide. Enforceable. Permanent.

Why Founders Trust Kaleidoscope

Your Brand Deserves Someone Who's Seen the Other Side.

Most trademark lawyers have only ever filed applications and argued with the examiner. Karen "Kay" Dindayal was the examiner — for ten years, inside the U.S. trademark office, deciding which brands got approved and which got refused.

That means your application is built by someone who knows exactly how it'll be judged: which words trigger a refusal, which descriptions clear, how to land the lower filing fee. You don't need to understand any of it. You just need someone in your corner who does — and who'll tell you the truth about your name before you ever file.

Those ten years as a USPTO Trademark Examining Attorney sit alongside years in legal research and contract licensing at Bloomberg LP and earlier work as an accountant at a management consulting firm — 19 years of legal and corporate experience in all. So she sees your whole business, not just the filing.

"I'll never file a name I don't believe in. If yours isn't ready, you'll be the first to know."— Karen "Kay" Dindayal, Founder

How It Works

From Exposed to Protected, in Four Simple Steps.

Book a Strategy Call

Answer a few quick questions so the conversation is useful from the first minute. If you're a fit, you'll land right on the calendar.

Get the Truth About Your Name

On a short call, you'll hear exactly where your brand stands and whether it's smart to file now. If it isn't, you'll be told — honestly.

Your Search & Strategy

She runs a full clearance search and reads it with a decade of insider experience, then hands you a clear written opinion and a plan.

File It — and Own It

Your application is filed the right way, your priority date locks in, and your brand is on its way to being legally, permanently yours.

Transparent Pricing

What It Costs to Finally Own Your Name.

No tiers to decode. No surprise invoices. Every brand starts with a strategy call to make sure filing is the right move for you — then this is the investment in owning it.

Search, Strategy & Filing

The Full Package

$2,500

attorney fee + $350 USPTO filing fee per class · most single-class filings run $2,850 all in

A full clearance search — federal, state & common-law — and a strategic read on whether your name is strong enough to protect
A written opinion with your risk assessment and filing strategy
Your application filed in the categories that make it enforceable, structured to keep your government fees as low as the rules allow
Non-substantive office action responses included
Substantive responses included on names cleared as low-risk
The Kaleidoscope Confidence Guarantee
Monitoring all the way to your registration certificate · renewal tracking

Book a Strategy Call

Protecting your name and your logo? Name + Logo: $4,750 attorney fee + $700 USPTO fees. We'll map the right coverage on your call.

The Kaleidoscope Confidence Guarantee

For names cleared as low-risk without reservation: if your application reaches a rejected Final Office Action response, Kaleidoscope refiles within six months at half the attorney fee, with the USPTO fee covered. Registration can never be guaranteed — this reflects our commitment to the work. Does not apply where high risk was identified and you chose to proceed. Full terms in the engagement agreement.

Client Love

Founders Who Trusted Us With Their Name.

★★★★★

Kay is exceptional. I truly can't recommend her highly enough. She is smart, detail-oriented, and incredibly patient throughout the entire process.

— Audrey Dilgarde

★★★★★

We were extremely pleased with the quality of the research, clarity of the advice, and overall professionalism throughout the process.

— Mike Lewis

★★★★★

From our first consultation, she demonstrated an impressive depth of knowledge, professionalism, and attention to detail. She took the time to thoroughly explain the process of the trademark application, ensuring I understood each step while making everything seamless and efficient.

— Christine Persaud

Verified reviews from Google.

Founders Just Like You

What Happens When You Don't Know What You Don't Know.

The Tech Founder

She'd paid for a logo and bought the domain — fully committed to a name. The search flagged a high risk of refusal: an existing registration in her exact category. She pivoted and launched on solid ground.

Rebuilt before filing. No wasted fees, no forced rebrand at scale.

The Beauty Brand Founder

She'd filed her own application, not knowing her name was confusingly similar to a registered mark. The USPTO issued a likelihood-of-confusion refusal — exactly the kind she spent a decade writing.

A clear path forward, mapped from the inside.

The Clothing Brand Founder

He needed Amazon Brand Registry, which requires a registered trademark. His search showed his name was too close to an existing one in apparel. The question became strategic: what name wins?

A stronger identity, positioned for approval.

Questions & Answers

The Questions Every Founder Asks. Answered Straight.

What happens on the strategy call?

You'll talk through your brand, the name or offer you want to protect, and where the real risks are. You'll get an honest, plain-language read on whether it's smart to file now or fix something first — and clear next steps. No obligation to move forward, and nothing you'll need a law degree to follow.

Can I trademark my own name?

Often, yes. If you're using your name as a brand — on a product line, a media company, a coaching business — it can function as a trademark, not just a signature. Personal-name marks come with their own rules (sometimes the USPTO wants to see that the public connects your name with what you sell), which is exactly the kind of thing worth sorting out before you file rather than after.

I'm a creator — can I trademark my podcast, course, or content brand?

Often, yes. A podcast name, a course or program, a signature framework, a recurring series — each can be protectable when it's working as a brand for something people pay for, not just a title. What's protectable, and in which category, depends on how you actually use it. That's what the search and strategy are for.

Will a trademark actually help me stop copycats and knock-offs?

That's much of the point of having one. A federal registration gives you the legal standing to make a copycat stop — and it's what platforms like Amazon, Etsy, and Instagram ask for when you report knock-offs or impersonators through their brand-protection tools. Without a registration, you're usually left asking nicely and hoping.

Someone's already using a name like mine — is it too late?

Not necessarily — it depends on who used it first, in which category, and whether either of you has filed. Sometimes there's a clear lane for you; sometimes a small adjustment keeps you safely clear. A search tells you exactly where you stand before you spend money, which beats assuming the worst or charging ahead blind.

Isn't it too early — shouldn't I wait until I'm bigger?

Usually it's the opposite. In the US, the person who files correctly first generally secures the rights — not whoever's been around longest — so waiting is what creates risk, not maturity. And the bigger and more visible you get, the more tempting your name is to copy, and the more a forced rebrand would cost. The cheapest time to protect a name is before you have to.

Can I file before I've launched or made a sale?

Yes. US law lets you file based on a genuine intent to use a name, which can lock in your priority date before you've sold a thing — helpful if you're about to launch and don't want someone filing first. There's a later step to confirm real-world use, and we'll map that timing together on your call.

How much of my time will this take?

Very little. After a short intake form and the strategy call, the heavy lifting — the search, the written opinion, the application, any office actions — is handled for you. You'll be kept in the loop and asked for the occasional detail, but you won't be living inside the USPTO's system. That's the whole point of handing it to someone who lives in this world so you don't have to.

Can't I just file it myself?

You can file a form — anyone can. But a trademark is only as strong as the strategy behind it, and filing yourself means guessing at the two things that decide whether your registration actually protects you: whether your name is even strong enough to be protectable in the first place, and which categories to file in so the registration is enforceable rather than just an official-looking certificate. Get either wrong and you've paid for a piece of paper that won't stop anyone. The value isn't the filing — it's the brand strategy that goes into the search, the analysis, and the way it's filed.

How is this different from LegalZoom or a cheap online filing service?

Those services are form-fillers: you type your details in, they submit them, and that's the service. No one tells you whether your name is actually protectable, no one chooses the categories that make your registration enforceable, and if the USPTO pushes back, you're on your own. A trademark can be "registered" and still fail to protect you when it matters — that's the difference between a certificate and real protection. What you're paying for here is the legal brand strategy that turns a filing into something that actually holds up.

What does the $2,500 package include?

A full clearance search across federal, state, and common-law sources, and a strategic read on whether your name is strong enough to protect and how to position it. A written opinion with your risk assessment and filing strategy. Your application prepared and filed in the categories that make it actually enforceable, and structured to keep your government fees as low as the rules allow. Office action responses — the USPTO's questions or objections — handled: non-substantive always, and substantive ones on names cleared as low-risk. Plus monitoring all the way to your registration certificate, and renewal tracking so it never quietly lapses. (The USPTO's own filing fee is paid directly to the government, separately.)

What's the difference between trademarking my name and my logo?

A word mark protects your name itself — in any font, color, or styling. That's usually the broadest, most valuable protection. A design mark protects your specific logo as a visual asset. Each is a separate application: $2,500 in attorney fees plus $350 USPTO fee each. Protecting both together is the Name + Logo Package — $4,750 in attorney fees plus $700 in USPTO fees. We'll map what's right for you on your call.

Why does the USPTO filing fee matter — and how do you keep mine lower?

The government charges two different filing fees: a lower one and a higher one that kicks in when an application doesn't meet certain technical requirements. Your application is prepared to qualify for the lower fee wherever possible — which saves you a couple of hundred dollars per category before it's even submitted. It's a small, concrete example of how the way something is filed changes both what you pay and what you actually get.

What if I get an office action?

An office action is the USPTO raising a question or objection — common, and not the end of the road. Non-substantive responses (the more procedural ones) are included. For substantive refusals, responses are included on names cleared as low-risk when filing. For names flagged higher-risk that you chose to file anyway, substantive responses are quoted separately, so you always know what you're paying for. Either way, they're handled by someone who wrote thousands of these from the government's side.

What's the Confidence Guarantee?

For names cleared as low-risk without reservation: if your application reaches a rejected Final Office Action — the point where a TTAB appeal would be the only path left — Kaleidoscope refiles within six months at half the attorney fee, with the USPTO fee covered. It doesn't apply where high risk was flagged and you chose to proceed anyway. It's not a promise of registration (no one can promise that) — it's a commitment to the quality of the work.

Is registration guaranteed?

No. Registration can never be guaranteed, and anyone who promises it isn't being straight with you — USPTO outcomes simply can't be predicted with certainty. What's guaranteed is the quality and precision of the work, backed by the Confidence Guarantee for eligible low-risk filings.

Why protect my offer name, not just my business name?

Each name that earns money and that people associate with you is a separate registration — and separately vulnerable. Your business name is one. Your signature offer, your course, your podcast, your method — each can be its own filing. A competitor doesn't need your business name; they only need the offer name you've promoted most. At six figures, you likely have more than one name worth protecting.

I'm not based in the US — can you still help?

Yes. The firm is fully virtual and U.S.-licensed, and works with founders and creators around the world who want to protect their brand in the United States — one of the most valuable markets to lock down. If you sell to, ship to, or build an audience in the US, a US registration matters, wherever you happen to be.

How long does the whole process take?

The call happens in your booked session. Filing is usually prepared within 1–2 weeks of getting started. Government review and registration takes roughly 8–14 months — but your legal priority date locks in the day your application is submitted, so the protection clock starts then, not at the end.

What happens after my trademark registers?

A registration isn't entirely set-and-forget — there are maintenance filings due at specific points (the first between years five and six) to keep it alive. Your renewals are tracked so a deadline doesn't quietly lapse and cost you the mark you worked to secure.

The Day That Changes Everything

The Day You File Is the Day It Becomes Yours.

Every day you wait, someone else can get there first. Book a strategy call, get the truth about your name, and start building like it's already protected — because it will be.

Book a Strategy Call Get the Brand Name Checklist

Kaleidoscope Law · Founded by Karen "Kay" Dindayal · Former USPTO Trademark Examining Attorney · U.S.-licensed. This page is informational, not legal advice; viewing it creates no attorney–client relationship.