Intent to Use (ITU)

Intent to Use, or ITU, refers to an application to register a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office by a party intending to make use of the trademark. Typically, such a registration occurs before the party has actually begun using the trademark.

The benefit to the applicant of this process is that the applicant can determine if the Patent and Trademark Office will register the trademark before the applicant has used significant resources branding their product or service with the trademark.

The application includes a statement from the applicant that they have the full intention of using the trademark in some form of commerce and the applicant must sign the registration. Once the applicant begins to make use of the trademark in commerce, the applicant must file an Allegation of Use form with the Patent and Trademark Office to complete the trademark registration.