Can you file a trademark without a lawyer?

What the numbers show

Gerhardt and Lee studied USPTO records for applications filed from 1981 to 2018, published in The Trademark Reporter in 2022. 63% of self-filed applications reached publication and 46% reached registration. With a lawyer, over 80% reached publication and 60% reached registration.

Most unsuccessful applications, 51%, were stopped by an office action. Self-filed applications were 26% of the period's filings but 44% of those that couldn't get past a final office action.

How to read them

These figures don't mean 54% of self-filers were rejected. 40% of failed applications stopped at the statement of use, and some of those owners may have simply decided not to use the mark.

It's also a correlation: people who hire lawyers may differ from people who don't. The data ends with 2018 filings, and it mixes four decades. We found no published rate comparing office actions for self-filers and represented applicants.

What the USPTO says

The USPTO strongly encourages hiring a U.S.-licensed attorney, though you don't have to if you live in the U.S. If you live elsewhere, you must use one. It also warns that bad advice from non-attorneys can get an application rejected or abandoned.

Where applications go wrong

Most applications get at least one office action, whoever files them. The study's numbers can't say why self-filers do worse, but a few steps are worth the time: search before you file, describe your goods the way the USPTO does, and use the right class. Then watch for USPTO email, because a missed deadline ends the application.

How long it takes

As of October 1, 2026, the USPTO reports an average of 4.3 months to a first action and 10.4 months to registration or abandonment. Start with a free trademark search.