What are the characteristics of trademarks?
A trademark may be a word, slogan, logo, sound, motion – any symbol which when attached to a good or service, distinguishes the good/service from competitors and enables consumers to immediately recognize the source of the good/service sold. In order to file a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the applicant must provide various pieces of information within the application including;
-The contact information of the applicant
-The legal status of the applicant (a person or business entity)
-The nature of the trademark (is it a word, design, slogan, or sound/motion trademark)
-The description of the Trademark
-The class of goods/services to which the Trademark will be assigned
-A description of the goods/services
-A specimen showing use of the goods/services in commerce
-A statement of first use of the trademark, both generally, and in commerce
-An indication that the Application is an Intent-to-Use if the mark has not yet been used in commerce
After the entire trademark application has been filled out, the applicant submits it along with the required fee (typically $275 or $225 per class of goods) and waits anywhere from 3-5 months to hear back from the USPTO with either a confirmation that the trademark is acceptable or with a Trademark Office Action, detailing why the trademark is unacceptable and the corrective measures that must be taken to amend the trademark application.
Source: Quora