Finito

Choose between use-in-commerce and intent-to-use
25 min
This step produces your filing basis — the legal foundation that decides what you must submit now and later. The USPTO recognizes three bases: 1(a) use-in-commerce, 1(b) intent-to-use, and 44(e) foreign registration; most self-filers choose between 1(a) and 1(b). The trap: choose 1(a) before you qualify and your application can be refused; choose 1(b) correctly and you take on an extra fee and a later filing deadline.
Goods — the 1(a) test. You qualify when the product bearing your mark has been sold to a customer in a different state. A single bona fide interstate sale counts; a gift, a sample, or a test does not.
Services — the 1(a) test. You qualify when you have performed the service under the mark for a client in a different state. A restaurant serving only in-state customers does not qualify; a software company whose first paying customer was in another state does.
If you qualify, capture two dates. The date of first use anywhere — even in your home state — and the date of first use in commerce, the interstate sale itself. You will also upload a specimen — a real photo or screenshot showing the mark in use — later in the application.
Not interstate yet? Choose 1(b) intent-to-use. No specimen is due at filing. After the USPTO allows your application, you must file a Statement of Use with a specimen and a fee of $100 per class (small-entity rate) within six months.
Buying time before the Statement of Use. You can request up to five six-month extensions, $125 each, for a total of 36 months — enough time to launch.
Foreign registration (44(e)). If you already own a registration for the same mark in your home country, you can claim basis 44(e). It requires no specimen at all, but your US registration expires six months after the foreign registration expires. Most self-filers do not use this basis.
Record for the TEAS Plus form. Note your chosen basis — 1(a), 1(b), or 44(e). If you chose 1(a), also note the exact dates of first use anywhere and first use in commerce for each class. These dates cannot be changed after filing.
- Check the interstate test: goods sold to a customer in another state, or a service performed for a client in another state.
- If you qualify for 1(a), note the date of first use anywhere and the date of first use in commerce for each class.
- If you have not, choose 1(b) intent-to-use and budget the $100-per-class Statement of Use fee for later.
- Check whether a home-country registration lets you claim basis 44(e) instead — and remember the six-month expiry.
- Write the chosen basis and the exact dates into the TEAS Plus form; they cannot be changed after filing.

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