Trademark Engine Reviews: Is This Affordable Online Service Worth It?

Legally trademarking your business’s brand name, logo, or other trademark needs is a complex process to handle on your own as a small business owner. Many people launching a business turn to online services to handle the process for them to save money and time. After all, hiring a personal attorney can be cost-prohibitive for many business owners who are just at the launching stage.

One of these popular services is Trademark Engine due to its extremely affordable pricing compared to its competitors. But is Trademark Engine legit? Based on my extensive research into many similar services, I question this company’s worth. Read on to learn more in my Trademark Engine review.

Visit Trademark Engine’s Website

Trademark Engine Reviews

Product Name: Trademark Engine

Product Description: Trademark Engine is an online service that specializes in trademark registration and monitoring.

Summary

Trademark Engine isn’t my top choice for your business needs. However, if you’re on a tight budget, it could be worth considering for very basic services. Trademark Engine gets a wide mix of customer reviews. Also, the lack of in-house attorney assistance is concerning if that’s what’s important for you. 

I base my reviews and ratings on many factors, including a company’s reputation, performance, and reliability. I also factor in pricing, customer support, and user feedback to determine an overall picture of whether an online service is worth your consideration. 

Overall

3.4

• Variety Of Trademarking Services
• Reliable Attorney Assistance
• Customer Support
• Pricing

Pros

• Affordable base price (but it’s limited)
• Offers a 24-hour express application process (Deluxe Plan)
• Also offers trademark monitoring, renewal, and other services (added fees)
• Free federal trademark search tool (only finds exact matches with the USPTO)
• Live chat, phone & email support

Cons

• Some customer complaints that the 24-hour application processing was unsatisfactory
• Lots of upselling/add-ons during the checkout process
• Can get expensive
• Not entirely transparent about pricing
• BBB: F rating

Consumer Reviews

This is the aggregate score of reader reviews we’ve received. Have a good or bad experience with Trademark Engine? Feel free to leave your own review in the comments. Please note that only ratings with valid review content will be published and counted.

Key Features

• Offers several different trademark registration packages at affordable pricing
• Trademark Engine, LLC doesn’t offer legal advice — the attorney-led registration option is through a third-party law firm, Swyft Legal, LLC
• Application processing can take up to 3 weeks (Basic & Standard Packages)
• Also offers copyright registration services
• Founded in 2016 and debuted in 2021 in the Inc. 5000 list of America’s Fastest Growing Companies
• Trademark Engine customer service phone hours are Monday-Friday 9am to 6pm CST

What Services Does Trademark Engine Provide?

Below, I give you a brief overview of the two most popular services Trademark Engine offers.

Trademark Registration

With the exception of the attorney-led package, all three Trademark Engine registration packages include:

• A basic exact-match search of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) 
• Application preparation
• Electronic filing
• A free one-year domain subscription with Squarespace for your website
• A 10-day free trial of trademark monitoring*

The standard package also includes the preparation of a cease and desist letter (if someone is infringing on the mark you’ve applied for) and a custom transfer and assignment letter (if you want to sell your mark). The deluxe package includes everything in other packages, plus same-day application processing.

*On your order summary page, you must opt out of the 10-day free trial for trademark monitoring. If you don’t, you’ll need to cancel this free trial before it ends. Otherwise, you’ll be charged $199 for annual monitoring. You must read the fine print before you check out! Many customers don’t and get caught off guard when they get charged. The resounding complaint about Trademark Engine is the upselling of its monitoring service.

Comprehensive Searches

You can use Trademark Engine to run a more comprehensive search to find potential matches with your mark. These don’t include the application or filing, nor are they attorney-led. The standard turnaround time is two weeks. However, you can pay an extra $50 to get your results within five days or $100 for results in 24 hours. Your options include:

• Federal & State Search: provides any similar names, logos, or slogans that are registered or pending with the USPTO or in any of the 50 states.
• Federal, State & Common Law Search: same as above but also includes a proprietary search of corporate directories, common law, and domain names.
• Global Comprehensive U.S. and International Search: same as above but also includes searches for pending and registered marks in these multi-national jurisdictions: The European community and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Pricing

Keep in mind that the following prices don’t include USPTO filing and other federal fees.

Trademark Registration Packages

• Attorney-Led package: $399
• Deluxe package: $199
• Standard package: $149
• Basic package: $99

Other Services

• Federal & State Search Report: $149
• Federal, State, & Common Law Search Report: $299
• Global Search Report: $499
• Trademark Monitoring: $199/year
• Trademark Renewal: $149
• Copyright Registration: starting at $99
• View all options

How Does Trademark Engine’s Trademark Registration Work?

While I opted not to use Trademark Engine’s trademark registration, I was curious about how this online service handles it without the attorney assistance option. Here’s an overview of what you can expect when you click on the “Register My Trademark” button on their website. They call this a “Trademark Application Process.” This process is the same for Trademark Engine’s Basic, Standard, and Deluxe packages.

Step 1

You start by filling out a simple online questionnaire that begins with Step 1, which asks you about the type of mark you want to register and several other questions about this mark. When I click on the “Get Help” buttons on this screen, Trademark Engine offers helpful tips about what you need to know to fill it out correctly.

Step 2

Step 2 involved entering my contact information. The information you provide differs somewhat depending on whether you’re an individual or a business entity, such as a corporation or LLC. In either case, it’s pretty straightforward with the information they require.

Step 3

After entering my contact information and business entity, I then had to provide my trademark’s class and further descriptive details about my mark uses. For the USTPO, classes fall into two categories: goods or services. That’s straightforward. However, detailing your goods or services here can get tricky if you haven’t done your homework to understand the best way to do so. While Trademark Engine offers a few examples, it’s not close to what you’d get with attorney assistance.

Steps 4 & 5

The next steps take you to the type of search you’d like Trademark Engine to provide. While they include a basic “direct hit” in every package (meaning the wording, slogan, or logo is exactly the same), you have the option of upgrading to one of the more comprehensive searches.

I’d recommend upgrading to at least a Federal & State Search; otherwise, Trademark Engine’s basic search won’t find similar matches to your chosen mark. You then choose the package you want (basic, standard, or deluxe).

Final Step – Complete Your Order

Take note of the EDIT in red on the left of “Trademark Monitoring Subscription.” Clicking on EDIT lets you opt out of their free 10-day trial, which will charge you $199 if you don’t cancel within the 10 days. Opting out can save you a ton of headaches.

A huge fine-print miss for some consumers on this page involves USPTO fees. In small print below the “Place Your Order” button is a notice that reads:

Before we file your trademark, but usually within a few days, Trademark Engine will collect the non-refundable, government-discounted TEAS Standard electronic filing fee of $350. Some applications may qualify for the TEAS Plus system, with a non-refundable filing fee of $250, but this system is generally less common. If your application qualifies for the TEAS Plus system, we will retain the difference between the $350 TEAS Standard filing fee and the $250 TEAS Plus filing fee to cover additional processing costs.

This notice means that Trademark Engine will charge your credit card for $350 before they file your trademark. So you need to be aware of this impending charge from Trademark Engine. However, these fees are required by the USPTO.

Customer Feedback

We scoured the web to find out how real users rate Trademark Engine. We’ve found some reviews to give you an overall picture of this service from customers’ perspectives.

I think it’s important to point out that a vast majority of reviews on the Better Business Bureau and Yelp are negative, and all of the reviews on Sitejabber from the last two years give Trademark Engine 1/5 stars. In stark contrast, reviews on Trustpilot are overwhelmingly positive. I and others find this a bit suspicious.

Praise

It was a very straight forward and easy process. When something went wrong, costumer support fixed the issue almost immediately and with great service.

– C.L.S., Trustpilot 01/19/2024

A nice surprise. Reasonably priced and with great support. It’s rare to get both these days. I opt-out of the upsells bc of budget. Make sure you do your research on uspto website. The fees and costs uspto charge to actually file and review are expensive. The filing is either $250 or $350 (per category), and then $425 for the review/declaration. Ugh. The former is collected by tme. The latter is collected by uspto. I would use tme again.

– May P., BBB 01/24/2024

Complaints

I completed my application and uploaded details and specimens as requested. At some point during the very confusing and misleading upsell/boarding process, I got opted into a monitoring service that I ended up paying for and could not get refunded. Now, FOUR MONTHS after I submitted my application, I got an email saying that “per my request” my order was on hold. I never requested this to be on hold. This company is a complete scam and I am convinced that the only reviews they get over 2 stars is fake.

– Carrigton F., BBB 01/05/2024

I filed for trademark of my logo for my building sign. They have continued to add charges and hold the filing. I have called multiple times and paid and they started charging me for a “monthly subscription” after the one-time logo charge. I stopped the monthly subscription which she said was not mandatory.

They have still held my logo approval “hostage” and not send it to me. I am again on hold to demand they provide me with what I paid for while Gretchen checks with the manager as to why they have not sent me this. I started this process Feb 23, 2023, and it is now Dec 13, 2023. Find another company to get this done with.

– Sherry S., Sitejabber 12/13/2023

Having Trouble Deciding On A Brand Name?

It’s imperative to brainstorm about potential brand names for your business before you embark on a trademark application or service to help you along the way. This brief video from the well-known business YouTuber and podcaster Dan Lok may help you come up with a few unique ideas.

Is Trademark Engine The Best Service For Your Needs?

Visit Trademark Engine’s Website

I’ve researched many online trademark services, and, in my opinion, you have better options. Of course, these other services are more expensive. However, trademarking your brand isn’t something you want to skimp on to save money. Experts and the USPTO highly recommend having attorney assistance with the registration process, and Trademark Engine doesn’t give legal advice. For better alternatives, see my reviews of the best trademark services.

Think you might try Trademark Engine or are you leaning towards another online service? Let us know in our comments!

Why Trust We Rock Your Web?

As a sole proprietor, Sally has conducted extensive research for herself and other small businesses into the legal requirements you need to consider when launching and owning a business. She’s also spent over 10 years researching and testing online software solutions for a variety of business needs.

Sally is part of a team of experts at We Rock Your Web, whose goal is to recommend only the best you can find at reasonable pricing for your situation. To save you precious time, we weed through all the online services that aren’t worth your money — and, as you likely know, there are many out there.