How to Register a Trademark in Utah (2026)
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Utah · Last updated August 12, 2026
Most Utah businesses protect a brand through federal registration with the USPTO under the Lanham Act, but Utah also runs its own state trademark register through the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code. Utah state registration is governed by the Registration and Protection of Trademarks and Service Marks Act, Utah Code 70-3a-101 et seq., and costs $50 for the first class. A Utah registration lasts five years and is renewable for additional five-year terms. It protects the mark only inside Utah and does not carry the nationwide priority of a federal registration.
How do I register a trademark in Utah at the state level?
You file a trademark application with the Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code, the office that administers the state register under Utah Code 70-3a. You must already be using the mark in Utah, identify the goods or services and their class, attach a specimen showing actual use, and pay the filing fee. The Division reviews the application and issues a certificate.
How much does a Utah state trademark registration cost?
The Utah Division of Corporations charges a non-refundable processing fee of $50 for a new trademark filing in a single class. Registering the same mark in more than one class adds $25 for each additional class listed. These state fees are separate from and far below the USPTO federal fee of $350 per class.
How long does a Utah trademark registration last?
A Utah state trademark registration lasts five years from the date the Division certifies it, under Utah Code 70-3a-305. You can renew it for successive five-year terms by filing a renewal within six months before it expires and continuing to use the mark. This differs from the federal 10-year term issued by the USPTO.
Should a Utah business register with the state or the USPTO?
If you sell across state lines or online, federal registration with the USPTO gives nationwide priority and the right to use the registered symbol. A Utah state registration is cheaper and faster but only reaches Utah's borders. Many local Utah businesses register with the state first, then file federally as they grow.
Utah's Trademark Act and where you file
Utah's state trademark system lives in the Registration and Protection of Trademarks and Service Marks Act, Utah Code 70-3a-101 et seq., which the Legislature substantially rewrote through Senate Bill 150 in 2002 to modernize the state register and set the current five-year term. The register is not run by a stand-alone Secretary of State trademark office. Instead it sits inside the Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code, part of the Department of Commerce, which also handles business entity and DBA filings. Utah requires that the mark already be in use in the state before you can register it, so there is no intent-to-use track at the state level the way there is federally. The Division certifies the registration, and it runs for five years from that certification date under Utah Code 70-3a-305, renewable in five-year increments. Utah has adopted the Uniform Trade Secrets Act at Utah Code 13-24, and it protects a person's name and likeness through the Abuse of Personal Identity Act at Utah Code 45-3, rather than a broad common-law right of publicity.
Relevant Laws
Utah Registration and Protection of Trademarks and Service Marks Act, Utah Code 70-3a-101 et seq.
The Utah statute governing state trademark and service mark registration, including the application requirements and the five-year term and renewal in Utah Code 70-3a-305.
Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code (Trademarks)
The Department of Commerce division that administers Utah's state trademark register and provides the trademark application form. Filing fee is $50 for the first class plus $25 per additional class.
Utah Uniform Trade Secrets Act, Utah Code 13-24
Utah's adoption of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, providing injunctive relief and damages for misappropriation of a trade secret through improper means.
Lanham Act (Trademark Act of 1946), 15 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.
The federal trademark statute administered by the USPTO. Federal registration gives nationwide priority that a Utah state registration cannot, and is the route for interstate or online use.
Regional Variances
Registering in Utah vs. federally with the USPTO
Utah register (Division of Corporations)
Governed by Utah Code 70-3a. $50 for the first class, +$25 per additional class. Five-year term, renewable. Requires actual use in Utah first, so no intent-to-use option. Protection stops at Utah's borders.
Federal register (USPTO)
Governed by the Lanham Act. $350 per class. Ten-year term, renewable indefinitely. Allows Section 1(b) intent-to-use filings, gives nationwide priority, and grants the right to use the registered symbol.
Common law (use alone)
Rights arise from use without any filing, limited to the actual Utah trading area where the mark is known. Free, but the hardest to enforce and it carries no registration certificate.
How Utah handles related brand-protection law
Trade secrets in Utah
Utah adopted the Uniform Trade Secrets Act at Utah Code 13-24, allowing injunctions and damages for misappropriation of confidential business information.
Name and likeness in Utah
Utah uses the Abuse of Personal Identity Act, Utah Code 45-3, a narrower endorsement-focused statute rather than a broad right of publicity, with civil and criminal remedies.
Filing office structure
Utah routes trademark filings through the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code in the Department of Commerce, not a stand-alone Secretary of State trademark office.
Suggested Compliance Checklist
Confirm actual use of the mark in Utah
Before filing days after startingUtah's state register under Utah Code 70-3a has no intent-to-use track. Verify you are already selling goods or services under the mark in Utah and record your first-use dates before applying.
Clear the mark against Utah and federal records
Before filing days after startingSearch the Utah Division of Corporations business search and the USPTO Trademark Search database for confusingly similar marks on related goods or services in your class.
Complete the Utah trademark application
When ready to file days after startingPrepare the Division of Corporations trademark application with the owner name, mark, class, first-use dates, description of goods or services, and a specimen showing the mark in use.
File with the Division and pay the fee
When ready to file days after startingSubmit the application to the Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code with the $50 non-refundable processing fee for the first class plus $25 for each additional class.
Calendar the five-year Utah renewal
Within 6 months before the 5-year expiration days after startingUnder Utah Code 70-3a-305 the registration expires five years after certification. File the renewal within the six months before expiration and keep using the mark, or it lapses.
| Task | Description | Document | Days after starting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confirm actual use of the mark in Utah | Utah's state register under Utah Code 70-3a has no intent-to-use track. Verify you are already selling goods or services under the mark in Utah and record your first-use dates before applying. | - | Before filing |
| Clear the mark against Utah and federal records | Search the Utah Division of Corporations business search and the USPTO Trademark Search database for confusingly similar marks on related goods or services in your class. | - | Before filing |
| Complete the Utah trademark application | Prepare the Division of Corporations trademark application with the owner name, mark, class, first-use dates, description of goods or services, and a specimen showing the mark in use. | trademark-application | When ready to file |
| File with the Division and pay the fee | Submit the application to the Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code with the $50 non-refundable processing fee for the first class plus $25 for each additional class. | - | When ready to file |
| Calendar the five-year Utah renewal | Under Utah Code 70-3a-305 the registration expires five years after certification. File the renewal within the six months before expiration and keep using the mark, or it lapses. | - | Within 6 months before the 5-year expiration |
Frequently Asked Questions
No. A registration on the Utah state register under Utah Code 70-3a only gives you rights inside Utah. It does not stop a business in another state from using a similar mark there, and it does not carry the nationwide priority of a USPTO federal registration. For protection beyond Utah, file federally with the USPTO.
No. Unlike the federal system, Utah's state register requires that the mark already be in use in Utah before you apply. You cannot reserve a mark at the state level on an intent-to-use basis. If you want to lock in a priority date before launch, the federal Section 1(b) intent-to-use application is the tool for that.
The Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code, within the Department of Commerce, administers the state trademark register. Utah does not route this through a separate Secretary of State trademark office. The same Division also handles corporate filings, LLC registrations, and DBA (doing business as) name filings for Utah businesses.
Yes. Utah adopted the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, codified at Utah Code 13-24. It lets a trade-secret owner seek injunctions and damages, including for actual loss and unjust enrichment, when a secret is misappropriated through improper means such as theft, bribery, or breach of a duty to keep it confidential. Trademarks and trade secrets are distinct forms of protection.
Utah protects a person's name, title, picture, or portrait through the Abuse of Personal Identity Act, Utah Code 45-3, rather than a broad general-purpose right of publicity. The Act targets advertising that uses someone's identity to imply endorsement without consent, and it provides both civil and criminal remedies. It is narrower than the publicity statutes in some other states.
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