Protecting Arizona State University’s brands begins with registering a trademark. This process ensures that marks used by ASU are legally safeguarded and properly represent the university’s goods, services and programs.
- Any trademarks registered through ASU will be owned by Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of Arizona State University.
- Trademark costs vary. After completing the “register a trademark” form, the Office of General Counsel can get you an estimate for costs before you proceed.
- Registering a trademark can take several months to complete.
Trademark registration process and guidelines
Trademarks and licensing and ASU's Office of General Counsel review the information provided, and provide an initial analysis of whether the mark is suitable for registration.
A mark is suitable for registration if:
✅ It is used as a brand name.
✅ It is distinctive (arbitrary or fanciful).
✅ It is represented in consistent way.
✅ It functions as a trademark
A mark is not suitable for registration if:
🚫 It is used as a noun or verb.
🚫 It is generic.
🚫 It is descriptive of goods or services.
🚫 It is too similar to another party's mark.
Trademarks and licensing will review samples of how ASU is using the mark to ensure that the mark is being used as a trademark.
See examples of trademarks in use.
To be suitable for registration, ASU’s use of a mark may not be confusingly similar to any other party’s use of the same or similar marks (whether or not registered) for similar goods and services. ASU Trademark & Licensing will conduct a preliminary screening search online with the Federal Trademark Office at USPTO Trademark Search to see if there are any registered or filed trademark applications for the same mark in connection with similar goods and services.
If Trademarks and licensing determines that the proposed mark is suitable for registration, ASU's Office of General Counsel will engage outside counsel to run a full trademark search and provide an opinion as to the registrability of the mark.
If the search and opinion are clean, outside counsel would then work with the department to determine the content of the trademark application.
