Use in commerce
Real sales or services across state or national lines.
The bar the USPTO applies: genuine commercial use, not token use created to support a filing. Sales within one state may not qualify for a federal registration. The date of first use in commerce becomes part of your record.
Why it matters to your application
The bar is genuine commercial use, not evidence manufactured to support a filing. A single token sale arranged to create a record is the thing this requirement exists to catch, and declaring use you cannot support puts the whole registration at risk.
In order
- Check your sales actually cross a state or national line. Purely local sales may not support a federal registration.
- Pin down your date of first use anywhere, and your date of first use in commerce. They can differ and both go on the record.
- Keep the evidence: invoices, listings, shipping records from that period.
- If you are not there yet, file intent-to-use rather than overstating where you are.
How this plays out
A business sells steadily but only within one state. It files claiming use in commerce. The sales are real, but they may not meet the federal standard - and the declaration, not the trading, is what becomes the weak point.
About use in commerce
Do online sales count as use in commerce?
Generally yes, where customers in other states can and do buy. A site that merely exists without sales is weaker evidence.
Is one sale enough?
A single token sale arranged to support a filing is unlikely to qualify. The USPTO is looking for genuine commercial activity.
What is the date of first use?
The date you first used the mark publicly in connection with the goods or services. It goes on the record and can matter in a later dispute.
General information about USPTO procedure, not legal advice about your situation. Always confirm the status and deadlines on your own application in USPTO TSDR.
Others you will meet at this stage
Allegation of use
Proof you have started actually selling under the mark.
FilingApplicant
The person or business that will own the registration.
FilingBasis for filing
Why you are entitled to file: you use it, or you intend to.
FilingClass
The category your goods or services fall into. Fees are per class.
Filing