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Congratulations on creating an app and wanting to take the next steps to protect your work. Here is a brief overview of the steps for obtaining a patent through the USPTO.First, you need to be sure that no one else has already come up with the same product or technology and secured a patent on it. You do this by performing a thorough patent search. This is something you could try to do yourself, but often it’s best to engage the help of a professional who is familiar with conducting these types of searches and can give you an opinion.Next, you’ll need to determine what type of patent you would be pursuing. The most common options are a design patent or a utility patent. In your case you would be filing for a utility patent.Now you need to decide whether you are filing for a provisional or nonprovisional patent. A provisional patent is the first step to securing a filing date if you’re not ready to file the nonprovisional patent and start the examination process, but ultimately you’ll need to get a nonprovisional patent to protect your idea.Finally, you’ll need to prepare and file the application along with the application fee. As this can be a confusing and difficult process, it’s recommended to hire an attorney to prepare the application for you. At this stage you’ll put together all the necessary information and submit it to the USPTO for examination. Once received by the USPTO, they will review the application and issue a determination. If it’s denied you’ll have the opportunity to appeal and request reconsideration.Once a patent is ultimately approved, you’ll need to maintain it by paying the required maintenance fees to the USPTO.If you’d like assistance with filing your patent, LawTrades can connect you with one of the experienced attorneys on our site for a free consultation. All of the attorneys are pre-vetted and constantly reassessed. We only let the highest caliber attorneys jump on board at LawTrades so that you can hire one in confidence.

Here’s the breakdown:Trademark (™)TM is used to signify common-law rights in a trademark pursuant to the Lanham Act. Thus, those who have not yet registered their brand name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) should list a ™ instead of a R. The same goes for those applications submitted but not yet accepted. TM is typically used to protect an unregistered mark by alerting potential infringers that a term, slogan, logo or other indicator is being claimed as a trademark. However, the use of TM does not guarantee the owner’s mark will be protected under trademark law. To succeed in a common-law infringement action under the Lanham Act, the trademark owner must prove: 1) s/he was the first to use the trademark and 2) the infringing party’s use of the trademark confuses the public from distinguishing the goods’ source.Registered ®The R symbol denotes a trademark which has been registered with the USPTO. The use of the symbol may only occur after the USPTO registers the mark. Registering your trademark gives you superior rights over others in the U.S. to use your trademark in your industry, and it provides you the ability to obtain treble damages against infringers. Not only will a registered trademark deter imitators, it also provides you with a heavy presumption of ownership in the courts. Because a registered trademark is much more preferable over an unregistered trademark, I invite you to take a look at a past answer I provided to “How do I register a trademark, such as company name?”Copyright ©The "C" with a circle around the letter, or the use of the word "copyright," gives notice to the public that the work is copyrighted and that you own the work. However, the C symbol is no longer required to protect your work as it's automatically protected when the work is created. To learn some more on copyrights, check out Stanford University’s amazing Copyright and Fair Use Center.Feel free to check out LawTrades for a free 20-minute consultation with an experienced attorney to get a sense of your IP rights. Also, don't hesitate to contact me directly with any additional questions or concerns you have regarding IP in general!

This answer has two components. First, a majority of states have naming requirements for LLCs and regular corporations that would prevent you from using a name that was already taken by a registered corporate entity in the state. From the information you provided me, it sounds as if the other LLC that you are speaking about is not in your state. If this is so, you should be able to reserve your desired name.On the trademark issue, I assume you are speaking about federal, not state, trademark protection. Given that the Texas LLC is no longer in business, there are three ways to analyze this issue.First, if the Texas LLC registered the name with the Texas State Secretary, never filed a federal trademark application, and did not use a particular brand in its marketing efforts, the firm’s name does not have common law trademark protection or federal statutory trademark protection. If this is so, you can use the name you want to reserve in economic activities inside and outside of Texas.Second, if the Texas LLC registered the name with the Texas State Secretary, never filed a federal trademark application, but used a particular brand in its marketing efforts, the firm could have common law trademark rights that extend only to the areas that it did business in. If this is so, you can use the name you want to reserve but I would encourage you to refrain from doing business in the Texas area.Finally, if the Texas LLC registered the name with the Texas State Secretary and filed a federal trademark application. The Texas firm owns the mark. This does not necessarily mean, though, that you cannot also use the mark. You mentioned that the Texas LLC is no longer in business. This is significant because if the firm failed to file a declaration of continued use or a renewal application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), or you choose to initiate a cancellation proceeding with the USPTO based on the fact that the Texas LLC is no longer using the mark, you could appropriate the trademark for your own purposes. I hope this helps.Need assistance registering your trademark? The intellectual property attorneys at LawTrades are well-versed at protecting your mark domestically and internationally. Our marketplace offers free consults, flat-fee price quotes, and a satisfaction guarantee. Feel free to message any questions!