To register a trademark in Colorado, file a statement of trademark registration electronically with the Colorado Secretary of State and pay the $30 fee. You have to already be using the mark in commerce within Colorado before you file, so the registration confirms rights you’ve started building through actual use. It isn’t a reservation for a name you plan to launch later.
The whole process runs through the Secretary of State’s online business portal. There’s no examining attorney, no publication period, and no paper option. If your filing meets the statutory requirements, the registration takes effect on the date you file.
Confirm You Qualify Before You Start
Two threshold facts decide whether Colorado registration is the right move right now.
First, you must already be using the mark in Colorado commerce. The application requires a sworn statement to that effect and a real-world specimen showing the use. If you haven’t launched yet, you don’t have anything to register at the state level.
Second, a Colorado registration only protects you inside Colorado’s borders. It creates a public record of your claim and the date you filed it, and it gives you a legal foundation if a later user in Colorado adopts something confusingly similar. If you sell online nationwide or expect to cross state lines, federal registration through the USPTO is the tool for that scope — it covers all 50 states but costs more and takes considerably longer. The two systems can coexist; one is not a substitute for the other.
Even without any filing, using a mark in commerce creates common law rights automatically, but those rights are limited to the geographic area where you actually do business and are harder to prove in a dispute. Registration is what turns informal use into an official record.
Search for Conflicts First
Run a search before you file. If someone else is already using your proposed mark, filing won’t fix the conflict — it will just put you on a collision course.
Start with the Colorado Secretary of State’s trademark database, which is searchable through the online business portal.1Colorado Secretary of State. Trademarks Then check the USPTO’s federal database (TESS) for nationally registered marks. A federal registration will take priority over a Colorado filing in a dispute, even if your state filing came first. A plain internet search for the mark alongside your type of goods or services can also surface unregistered users operating under common law rights.
What Your Application Has to Contain
Colorado’s statute lays out exactly what the statement of trademark registration must include.2Justia. Colorado Code 7-70-102 – Statement of Trademark Registration Missing any of these pieces means delay or rejection.
- Your name and address. Individuals give their principal address. Business entities give their form of entity, jurisdiction of formation, and principal address, unless the entity already has a Colorado registered agent on file.
- The mark itself. If it’s just letters and numbers in standard characters, you type it in. If it includes a logo, stylized text, special characters, or any design element, it’s a “special form trademark” and needs a written description plus an attached drawing.
- A description of the specific goods or services you use the mark with, and the class they fall into.
- The date the mark was first used in commerce in Colorado, by you or a predecessor.
- A specimen showing actual use of the mark in commerce — not a mockup.
- A good-faith statement that you are currently using the mark in Colorado commerce and believe your use doesn’t infringe anyone else’s rights.
Picking the Right Class
Trademark classification follows the international Nice system, which sorts everything into 45 classes. Classes 1 through 34 cover goods; Classes 35 through 45 cover services. If your mark is used across more than one class — clothing sales and tailoring services, for example — you may need a separate registration for each class.
What Counts as a Specimen
The specimen has to show the mark as it actually appears in use. What qualifies depends on whether you’re registering goods or services.
- For goods: product labels, tags, packaging, or a website screenshot showing the goods being offered for sale with the mark displayed. Advertising material alone does not work for goods.
- For services: advertisements, brochures, website screenshots, signage at a location where services are performed, or photos of service vehicles bearing the mark.
If you submit a website screenshot, include the URL and the date of capture. Colorado accepts electronic submissions, so a photo, scan, or screen capture of a physical specimen is fine.3Colorado Secretary of State. Statement of Trademark Registration of a Reporting Entity
Filing Online and Paying the Fee
Filing is done through the Colorado Secretary of State’s online business portal. The filing fee is $30.4Colorado Secretary of State. Business Organizations Fee Schedule
After you complete the form and submit it, the system opens an attachment page where you upload your specimen (and your drawing, if the mark is in special form) as a PDF or plain text file. The filing isn’t finished until you submit electronic payment as the final step. You’ll get a confirmation when it goes through.3Colorado Secretary of State. Statement of Trademark Registration of a Reporting Entity
If you’re an individual who lives outside Colorado, or an entity without a Colorado registered agent, the application also requires you to appoint a registered agent in the state or provide a mailing address where legal process can be served.2Justia. Colorado Code 7-70-102 – Statement of Trademark Registration
After You File
The Secretary of State’s office reviews the filing for completeness and compliance with the statute. If it meets the requirements, the registration takes effect on the filing date. Colorado does not run an opposition period, so there’s no 30-day window for third parties to challenge the mark before it registers, unlike the federal process.
Once filed, the registration serves as public notice of your claim.2Justia. Colorado Code 7-70-102 – Statement of Trademark Registration A later user adopting a confusingly similar mark is on constructive notice of your rights from the date you filed.
Keeping the Registration Alive
A Colorado trademark registration lasts five years from the filing date. If you don’t renew, it expires and stops providing notice of your claim.5Justia. Colorado Code 7-70-104 – Duration and Renewal
The renewal window opens 180 days before expiration and closes on the expiration date itself. No grace period. Miss it and you start over with a fresh application.1Colorado Secretary of State. Trademarks The renewal fee is $10, filed through the same online portal.4Colorado Secretary of State. Business Organizations Fee Schedule
When you renew, you confirm the mark is still in use in Colorado commerce and identify any goods or services from the original registration that you’ve stopped using. You can renew for successive five-year terms as long as you keep using the mark and file on time.5Justia. Colorado Code 7-70-104 – Duration and Renewal
Transferring or Withdrawing the Registration
If you sell the business or hand the mark off to a new owner, either party can file a statement of transfer with the Secretary of State. It must name both parties, identify the original registration, and state that the trademark rights, including all associated goodwill, have been transferred.6Justia. Colorado Code 7-70-106 – Statement of Transfer of Trademark Registration The goodwill language matters: a trademark cannot be transferred separately from the business reputation it represents.
To cancel a registration — for example if you’ve stopped using the mark or closed the business — file a statement of withdrawal with your name, the registration identification, and a statement that it’s being withdrawn.7Justia. Colorado Code 7-70-105 – Statement of Withdrawal of Trademark Registration
One Thing Registration Doesn’t Do
The Secretary of State’s office does not police the marketplace for infringement. Registration creates the legal foundation and the public notice; watching for infringing uses and acting on them is on you. If a competitor adopts a confusingly similar mark in Colorado, enforcement starts with you, typically through a cease and desist letter and, if that fails, a court action where your registration helps prove when you claimed the mark.