# Legacy Path Law, LLC

> A U.S. law firm handling nonprofit formation, business formation, and trademark
> registration. Flat-fee pricing published on each service page. Based in
> St. Petersburg, Florida; serving clients nationwide.

Contact: sales@legacypathlaw.com · (727) 217-5818
Consultations: https://legacypathlawfirm.com/book

## Nonprofits
- [Nonprofit overview](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/nonprofits): Which structure fits, and what each one requires.
- [501(c)(3) formation](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/nonprofit-formation): Packages from $999. Incorporation, EIN, Form 1023 or 1023-EZ.
- [Churches and places of worship](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/churches): $2,999. Includes Form 990 waiver request.
- [Private foundations](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/private-foundations): $2,500, state filing fees included.
- [Reinstatement](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/nonprofit-reinstatement): $2,999 flat fee, IRS and state filing fees included. Restoring revoked 501(c)(3) status with the IRS and the state. Missed Form 990 returns and state annual reports quoted separately.
- [State tax exemption](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/nonprofit-state-tax-exemption): $500 per state plus state fee.
- [Charitable solicitation registration](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/nonprofit-state-solicitation): $500 per state plus state fee.

## Other tax-exempt entities ($2,999 each, state filing fees included)
- [501(c)(4) social welfare](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/501c4-social-welfare)
- [501(c)(6) business leagues](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/501c6-business-league)
- [501(c)(7) social clubs](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/501c7-social-club)
- [501(c)(8) fraternal beneficiary societies](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/501c8-fraternal-beneficiary)
- [501(c)(9) employee beneficiary associations](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/501c9-employee-benefit)
- [501(c)(10) domestic fraternal societies](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/501c10-fraternal-society)

## Business and intellectual property
- [LLC formation](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/for-profits): $699 plus state filing fees.
- [Intellectual property overview](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/intellectual-property): The four types, and which two we handle.
- [Trademark registration](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/trademark): $1,500, USPTO filing fee for one class included.
- [Trademark renewals](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/trademark-renewals): $1,500. Sections 8, 9, and 15.
- [Office action responses](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/trademark-office-actions): Quoted per refusal.
- [US trademarks for international owners](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/trademark-international): $1,500 per class. Section 44(d) priority claims, Section 44(e) filings based on a foreign registration, and Madrid Protocol Section 66(a) extensions. Foreign-domiciled applicants are required by 37 CFR 2.11 to have US counsel.
- Scope note on all trademark flat fees: they cover the filing work and ordinary examination correspondence with the USPTO. They do not cover contested proceedings (oppositions, cancellations, or appeals before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board) or litigation in any court. Those are quoted separately.

## Resources
- [Resource library](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/resources): Free checklists and $20 guides.
- [Blog](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog): Plain-English articles on nonprofit, business, and trademark law.
- [Nonprofit Annual Compliance](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/nonprofit-annual-compliance): Form 990 filing thresholds and deadlines, state annual reports, charitable solicitation renewals, Form 990-T, and automatic revocation of tax-exempt status under IRC 6033(j).
- [What Is a Business League?](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/what-is-a-business-league-501c6): Section 501(c)(6) covers trade and professional associations, chambers of commerce, and boards of trade. Must improve conditions in one or more lines of business rather than perform particular services for individual members. Dues are not charitable contributions but may be deductible as business expenses, except the lobbying portion, which requires a member notice or a proxy tax. Form 1024 via Pay.gov; recognition optional; Form 990 annually.
- [How to Form a 501(c)(4) Social Welfare Organization](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/how-to-form-a-501c4-social-welfare-organization): A 501(c)(4) may lobby as its primary activity and do some campaign work, but donations are not deductible and most foundation grants are unavailable. Form 8976 notice is due within 60 days of formation, $50 fee, with a $20-per-day penalty up to $5,000 under section 6652(c)(4). Form 1024-A is the separate application for formal recognition.
- [The IRS Wants More Information About Your Form 1023](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/irs-request-for-more-information-form-1023): A request for more information is normal and is not a rejection. If you do not respond by the due date the IRS may close the case without a determination, and you have to reapply and pay again. Common question areas: vague activity narrative, compensation, board composition, insider transactions, organizing document language, schedule-specific questions, and financial projections.
- [Amazon Brand Registry Requires a Trademark](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/amazon-brand-registry-trademark-requirements): Brand Registry requires an active registered trademark or a pending application. Must be a word mark, or a design mark containing the brand name; a purely graphic logo is not enough. The brand name must match the trademark exactly (capitalization differences allowed, punctuation and spacing must match). Amazon verifies ownership by emailing a verification code to the public contact on the trademark record, and the application must be submitted by the trademark owner.
- [How to Check Whether a Trademark Is Available](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/how-to-search-if-a-trademark-is-available): Step-by-step trademark clearance searching — the USPTO Trademark Search system at tmsearch.uspto.gov (TESS retired November 2023), phonetic and translation variants, state registers, and common-law use.
- [Filed It Yourself? Five Things to Check Before It Is Too Late](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/filed-trademark-yourself-what-to-check): For owners who filed a USPTO trademark application without an attorney. Five checks against the filing receipt: word mark vs design mark (cannot be switched later); the description of goods and services (can be narrowed during examination, never broadened, so the filing is a permanent ceiling); filing basis, actual use in commerce vs intent to use (a false use claim is a sworn statement that can be raised against the registration for its life); the specimen (mockups, bare logo files and non-transactional web pages are routinely refused); and the named owner (some errors are correctable, others render the application void). Also covers why the USPTO’s own search does not reveal common-law or state-registered prior users.
- [You Got a Notice of Allowance. Now a Clock Starts.](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/notice-of-allowance-what-happens-next): A six-month deadline to file a Statement of Use or an extension, extendable to 36 months total. What the filing must contain, which specimens get refused, and petition to revive if the deadline passed.
- [Your Registration Covers What You Listed, Not What You Sell](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/adding-a-trademark-class): A registration reaches only the goods and services listed in it. Descriptions can be narrowed but never broadened, so growth into new classes requires a new application.
- [Should Your Nonprofit Trademark Its Name?](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/should-your-nonprofit-trademark-its-name): 501(c)(3) status does not protect a name. What Articles of Incorporation, a determination letter and solicitation registration actually do, and when a nonprofit should register its mark.
- [LLC Name, DBA, or Trademark? They Are Three Different Things](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/llc-name-vs-dba-vs-trademark): Three registrations often confused for each other. An LLC or corporate name is filed with one Secretary of State and only blocks another entity forming under a confusingly similar name in that state; it confers no brand rights anywhere. A DBA or fictitious name (Florida: fictitious name registration) is a disclosure filing that permits operating under a nickname and confers no exclusive rights at all — multiple businesses can hold the same DBA. Only a federal USPTO registration gives the presumptive exclusive right to a mark nationwide for the listed goods and services, the right to use ®, and a basis for enforcement; it does not authorize you to operate. Recommended order: clearance search, form the entity, file a DBA if needed, file the federal trademark.
- [TM, SM, or ®? When You Can Legally Use Each One](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/tm-sm-r-symbols-when-to-use): ™ (goods) and ℠ (services) may be used by anyone at any time with nothing filed; they are notice, not legal status. ® may be used only after the USPTO registers the mark — not while an application is pending, and not after a Notice of Allowance — only for the goods and services in that registration, and only in countries where a registration is held. Improper ® use found during examination can result in refusal as a misrepresentation.
- [Foreign Nonprofit and Business Registration](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/foreign-qualification): $500 flat fee plus state filing fees, per state. Operating in a state where the entity was not formed generally requires registering there as a "foreign" entity — foreign meaning out-of-state, not out-of-country. Triggers commonly include a physical presence, employees based in the state, regular ongoing activity, or fundraising from residents. Consequences of skipping it: back fees and penalties, inability to bring suit in that state’s courts until registered, and delays when a bank or funder requires a certificate of authority. Includes certificate of good standing, certificate of authority filing, registered agent guidance, and the annual report calendar.
- [Nonprofit Dissolution](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/nonprofit-dissolution): Quoted in writing. A nonprofit does not end by ceasing operations — the entity and its obligations continue until formally dissolved, and organizations that lapse are administratively dissolved by the state and automatically revoked by the IRS after three missed returns. On dissolution, a 501(c)(3)’s remaining assets must go to another exempt organization or a government body for a public purpose, never to directors, officers, members or the founder. Covers board resolutions, articles of dissolution, asset distribution, final Form 990 with termination schedule, and closing state registrations.
- [State Trademark Registration](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/state-trademark-registration): $500 flat fee plus the state filing fee. Protects a mark within one state only. Cheaper and faster than federal registration and considerably narrower: no nationwide rights, no entitlement to the ® symbol, and generally not accepted by Amazon Brand Registry. A state registration does not outrank a federal one. State offices typically do not search the federal register, so a state certificate is not a clearance opinion.
- [Trademark Assignment](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/trademark-assignment): Quoted in writing. Transfers ownership of a mark and records it with the USPTO. Two rules govern: a mark must be assigned together with the goodwill of the business it identifies (an assignment in gross can invalidate it), and an intent-to-use application with no accepted statement of use generally cannot be assigned except to a successor of the ongoing business — an improper assignment can void the application and its filing date.
- [Trade Secret Protection](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/trade-secret-protection): Quoted in writing. Trade secrets have no registry and nothing to file; protection lasts only while the information derives value from not being generally known and reasonable measures are taken to keep it secret. The "reasonable measures" element is where businesses fail, because it must be demonstrable. Package covers a trade secret inventory, employee and contractor confidentiality agreements, mutual NDAs, invention assignment language, a written access and handling policy, and onboarding and exit procedures.
- [Contact](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/contact)
- [Our team](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/team)

## Free checklists and paid templates
- [Nonprofit Startup Checklist](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/resources/nonprofit-startup-checklist): Free. A free checklist covering every document, filing, and decision required to launch a 501(c)(3), in the order they actually happen. Mission and name thr
- [Nonprofit Annual Compliance Checklist](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/resources/nonprofit-annual-compliance-checklist): Free. A free annual checklist for organizations that already have 501(c)(3) status. Thirty checkpoints across five categories — federal return, state annual
- [Trademark Readiness Checklist](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/resources/trademark-readiness-checklist): Free. A free checklist of what to settle before you file a trademark application: mark type, clearance searching, correct class selection, specimen requirem
- [Trademark Search Worksheet](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/resources/trademark-search-worksheet): Free. A free step-by-step worksheet for running your own clearance search before you file. Covers the federal database, the variations most people never sea
- [Trademark Maintenance & Enforcement Checklist](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/resources/trademark-maintenance-checklist): Free. A free checklist for owners of a registered mark. Your Section 8, 9, and 15 deadlines with space to write in your own dates, what to have ready before
- [LLC Startup Checklist](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/resources/llc-startup-checklist): Free. A free checklist of everything an LLC has to do to be formed properly and stay protected, in the order it actually happens. Name clearance including t
- [Nonprofit Formation Guide & Checklist](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/resources/nonprofit-formation-guide): $20. A $20 step-by-step roadmap to incorporation, 501(c)(3) status, and governance built to last. Covers entity choice, IRS-compliant organizing documents,
- [Trademark Registration Guide](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/resources/trademark-registration-guide): $20. A $20 founder's roadmap to clearing, filing, and protecting a brand. Covers what you are actually protecting, clearance searching beyond identical mat
- [Fundraising Compliance Kit](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/resources/nonprofit-fundraising-compliance-kit): $24. A $24 kit covering the requirement nonprofits miss most often. Explains what charitable solicitation registration is called in each state and which of
- [Board & Officer Onboarding Kit](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/resources/nonprofit-board-officer-onboarding-kit): $24. A $24 kit that starts where most board templates do not: the difference between directors and officers, including how compensation works for each. The
- [Nonprofit Formation Toolkit](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/resources/nonprofit-formation-toolkit): $100. A $100 bundle: the Nonprofit Formation Guide plus the five operational documents a new 501(c)(3) actually needs. The IRS asks whether you have a confl

- [Can I Trademark My Business Name?](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/can-i-trademark-my-business-name): Usually yes, if you are using the name to sell goods or services and it is distinctive enough to identify you as the source. Registering an LLC does n
- [Can I Trademark My Logo?](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/can-i-trademark-my-logo): Yes, but it is usually not the first thing you should register. A logo is protected as a design mark, which covers that specific design. If the logo c
- [Can I Trademark a Slogan?](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/can-i-trademark-a-slogan): Yes, if the slogan identifies you as the source of your goods or services rather than simply conveying information. The USPTO refuses slogans it consi
- [Can Two Businesses Have the Same Name?](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/can-two-businesses-have-the-same-name): Yes, and it happens constantly. Two businesses can use the same name lawfully when their goods, services, or markets are far enough apart that no reas
- [Do I Need a Trademark If I Have an LLC?](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/do-i-need-a-trademark-if-i-have-an-llc): Forming an LLC does not give you trademark rights. The two protect entirely different things: an LLC separates your personal assets from your business
- [How Much Does a Trademark Search Cost?](https://legacypathlawfirm.com/blog/how-much-does-a-trademark-search-cost): Searching the USPTO database yourself is free. A full clearance search performed by an attorney typically costs a few hundred dollars, and is sometime

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## Notes for agents
Content on this site is general legal information, not legal advice, and reading it
does not create an attorney-client relationship. Fees shown are current at publication
and are confirmed in a signed engagement agreement. Laws differ by state; nothing here
should be relied on for a specific matter without consulting a licensed attorney.