Your Shopify store is not your brand. Your Instagram handle is not your brand. Your brand is yours only when you file it.
D2C is a visibility business. The brand is the moat — and a visible brand is a copyable brand. The trademark filing is what separates “they took our name” (recoverable) from “they took our name and they filed first” (mostly not).
This page covers the D2C-specific class strategy, the marketplace + Shopify protection workflow, and what to do when a copycat shows up.
Three filings cover most of the IP risk on day one. Each is a standalone service and each links to a deeper walkthrough.
Two filings minimum: the product class and Class 35.
Class 35 is the marketplace and online-retail class. Skipping it leaves your Shopify, Amazon and Flipkart presence unprotected even when the product class is registered.
A registered trademark powers four things D2C founders use daily:
The standard sequence: send a cease-and-desist, take down on the relevant marketplace via brand-protection tools, then escalate to opposition (if they have a pending TM application) or to commercial court (if they have launched the product). The earlier the registered trademark exists, the faster every step works. Without it, every step is a negotiation.
Launching a D2C brand this quarter? Run the trademark search before the landing page goes up.
WhatsApp our team →Class 35 covers online retail and marketplace services — Shopify, Amazon, Flipkart, your own DTC website. Filing only in your product class leaves the retail channel exposed to a separate registrant.
Yes — file the handle as a wordmark. Once registered, Meta’s IP form will accept your trademark proof for impersonation or copycat takedowns. The handle and the brand name should ideally match for cleanest enforcement.
Form TM-A can be filed in 48 hours of having the brand name, logo and class decision. The TM application number arrives within hours of filing and you can use the ™ symbol from that day.
No. Domain registration is a contract with the registrar — it does not give trademark rights. Brand protection comes from registering the trademark. The two filings work together but are separate rights.