Do I Have to Be an American Resident to File in the U.S.?
Do I Have to Be an American Resident to File in the U.S.?
A lot of people wonder whether they need to live in America in order to file a trademark with the U.S. Trademark Office. The answer is that no, you don’t need to live in the country where your trademark is filed.
Where To File Your Trademark
Anybody can file a trademark in the U.S. whether you are a U.S. resident, a foreign resident, a company, a Canadian company, an American company, a French company.
Each country has its own trademark jurisdiction, so you need to file a separate trademark in every country where you want to protect your product or service. This often means businesses file trademarks for the same or similar items in multiple countries around the same time.
It’s very common to file a trademark in a country that you don’t actually live in. In fact, this is essential if you want to have control over your trademark everywhere that you do business.
U.S. Trademark Offices
The United States trademark office doesn't care as long as you meet all the other formal requirements about how your application is filed, it doesn't matter where you reside, you're good to go.
When filing multiple trademarks internationally, you just need to make sure you meet all the requirements of each trademark office that you are applying to.
