Patent Attorney and Founder
People ask this all the time.
“What percent of registered trademarks just sit unused, waiting to be sold?”
Short answer?
Almost none.
And that’s not random. It’s built into the system on purpose.
A trademark is not like a domain name. You can’t grab it, park it, and flip it later. That sounds easy, but trademark law does not work that way. Not even close.
Once you see why, a lot of confusion clears up.
First, one simple rule.
You don’t really own a trademark unless you use it.
That’s the heart of trademark law.
A trademark exists to point buyers to a real product or service. It’s a signal. A shortcut in the mind. A way for customers to say, “I know where this came from.”
No business.
No product.
No service.
No trademark.
So when people picture buying and selling trademarks like trading cards, the law quietly says no.
That’s not what trademarks are for.
Let’s kill a myth right now.
Many people think they can file a trademark, wait, and sell it later.
Like land.
Like crypto.
Like domains.
But trademarks are not passive assets. They are tied to action in the real world.
You don’t register a word.
You register use of a word.
That one change flips everything.
Here’s how registration really works in the U.S.
You can file in two main ways.
Either:
• You’re already using the mark in business.
• Or you truly plan to use it soon.
That second option is called “intent to use.”
It sounds loose.
It’s not.
If you file with intent to use, the government will later ask you to prove it. Not with ideas. Not with hopes. With evidence.
Real sales.
Real ads.
Real offers to buyers.
You must show the mark in the wild.
No action, no registration.
Now here’s the part most people miss.
You can’t sell an intent.
You can’t say, “I was going to use it, but now someone else will.”
That breaks the system.
The law demands a bona fide intent to use the mark yourself. Not to flip it. Not to warehouse it. Not to shop it.
Your intent must match your business.
If your real plan is to sell before launch, the filing is weak from day one.
Because legally, that’s not intent.
That’s guessing.
So what does the government actually require?
You must go to market first.
Before you get a registration number.
Before you transfer ownership.
Before you sell anything.
You must show the brand exists in real life.
Only then does it become transferable.
And even then, you’re not really selling the word.
You’re selling the business behind it.
That part surprises people.
They think a trademark is a thing by itself.
Like a license plate.
But it’s closer to a reputation.
If you sell a trademark without the business, you strip it of meaning. Buyers expect the same source. Same quality. Same story.
That’s why the law ties trademarks to goodwill.
Goodwill just means trust built with customers.
You can’t separate trust from the company that earned it.
So when a trademark moves, the business meaning must move too.
Think about a restaurant sign.
You can’t just sell the sign and walk away.
If someone buys it, they expect the recipes, the service style, the feel, and the promise behind it.
Otherwise the sign lies.
Trademark law hates lying signs.
Now compare that to patents.
Patents play a different game.
With patents, you are pushed to file early. Even before you sell anything.
You invent something.
You file.
You license or sell the application.
It might get approved. It might not. Risk comes with it.
But the system wants ideas out in the open.
So patents can move before market entry.
Trademarks can’t.
Because trademarks don’t protect ideas.
They protect identity in business.
No business, no identity.
That’s where policy steps in.
And it’s smart.
If trademarks worked like domains, the system would clog fast.
People would grab every good name.
Sit on them.
Hold them hostage.
Charge founders for access.
We already saw that happen online with URLs.
Trademark law learned from that.
So marks must connect to real use. Not betting. Not hoarding. Not shopping lists.
That’s why the percent of registered marks that are unused is almost zero.
To get registered, you had to prove use.
If you stop using later, the mark can die.
Trademarks need oxygen.
Use is oxygen.
Without it, they fade.
Now let’s talk about assignments.
That’s the legal word for transferring a trademark.
You can assign a trademark, but only with goodwill.
That means the buyer gets the business meaning tied to the mark.
Not just letters on paper.
So you’re not flipping a name.
You’re moving a living business signal.
Here’s an example.
Say you build a coffee brand called “Sun Harbor.”
You sell beans online. You get repeat buyers. People trust the taste.
That name now stands for something.
If you sell the trademark, the buyer must keep selling coffee in a way that fits those buyers’ expectations.
They can’t slap it on lawn tools tomorrow.
That breaks the promise the mark made.
And the law steps in when promises get broken.
So when someone asks, “Why can’t I just register names and sell them?”
The answer is simple.
Because trademarks aren’t names.
They’re signals.
They point to a real source in the market.
No source, no signal.
Another trap people fall into.
They think filing early means flipping early.
Intent-to-use lets you hold a place while you build.
Not while you bargain.
Not while you speculate.
Not while you trade.
The law assumes you are preparing to sell something real.
If that’s false, the filing cracks.
Let’s make it practical.
Imagine someone files a mark for “SkyPulse Fitness.”
They build nothing.
No app.
No gym.
No merch.
Instead, they email founders.
“Want this name? Pay me.”
It sounds clever.
Legally, it’s weak.
If challenged, their intent falls apart. They never meant to use it. They meant to sell it.
And those two ideas are opposites in trademark law.
One grows markets.
The other blocks them.
Trademark offices don’t want traffic jams.
They don’t want thousands of dead marks blocking real companies.
They want brands tied to action.
To customers.
To money changing hands.
That keeps the system clean.
Now let’s talk about selling after launch.
That part is normal.
Companies sell brands all the time.
But notice what’s really sold.
Not a naked word.
It’s the business meaning behind it.
Customer lists.
Product lines.
Market position.
Reputation.
The trademark is the label on the box.
The box is what buyers pay for.
So when someone says, “I’m selling a trademark,” what they really mean is:
“I’m selling the business story behind that mark.”
Even if it’s small.
Even if it’s early.
There must be something real behind it.
That’s also why abandoned trademarks exist.
People stop selling.
They close shop.
They forget renewals.
Over time, the mark loses life.
Not right away.
But slowly.
Use keeps it alive.
No use, no life.
Let’s zoom out.
Why all this structure?
Why so strict?
Because trademarks protect buyers, not just owners.
That part gets missed.
People think trademarks are about control.
They’re really about clarity.
When someone sees a mark, they expect consistency.
Same source.
Same quality.
Same feel.
The law protects that promise.
So it won’t let marks float around without roots.
Here’s another way to see it.
A patent protects an invention.
A trademark protects a relationship.
The relationship is between buyer and seller.
If the seller isn’t real, the relationship is fake.
So the mark can’t live alone.
That’s also why you can’t assign future intent.
You can’t say, “I was going to build it, but now they will.”
Intent belongs to the business plan, not the paperwork.
Once the business changes, the intent changes too.
So the law asks for real use before transfer.
It’s a reality check.
Some people dislike this.
They want faster flipping.
But speed isn’t the goal.
Trust is.
The system trades speculation for stability.
That helps founders, buyers, and investors.
Nobody wants a market full of ghost brands.
Now let’s talk about brand ideas.
People say, “I have a great brand idea.”
That’s great.
But ideas don’t register.
Action does.
You can think all day.
But until you sell something, your trademark is only potential.
And potential doesn’t move well.
Reality does.
So if you’re building with trademarks, use this mindset.
Don’t treat them like lottery tickets.
Treat them like footprints.
You leave them by walking in the market.
No walking, no footprints.
If your goal is value, focus on:
• Real buyers
• Real offers
• Real service
• Real trust
The trademark follows the work.
Not the other way around.
Let’s go deeper for a moment.
A trademark has one job.
Reduce confusion.
When someone sees your mark, they should know who made the product.
That’s it.
Not who filed first.
Not who paid a fee.
Who actually stands behind it.
That’s why the system cares so much about use.
Imagine buying shoes labeled “RiverStone.”
You liked them before.
You trust them.
Now someone else owns the mark, but they sell junk.
You feel tricked.
Trademark law exists to stop that.
So when a mark transfers, the business meaning must follow.
Otherwise buyers lose trust.
This also explains why trademarks can’t be abstract.
They can’t live in spreadsheets.
They live in the market.
On shelves.
On screens.
In customer memory.
That’s where value grows.
People also ask, “What about holding companies?”
Good question.
Yes, trademarks can sit in holding entities.
But the business using them must still be real.
Someone, somewhere, must be selling under the mark.
Paper alone isn’t enough.
Another point.
A registration is not magic armor.
It’s a snapshot of use at a moment in time.
If use stops, the protection weakens.
Over years, unused marks fall away.
The system is always checking reality.
Not theory.
So when you hear about selling trademarks, remember what’s really sold.
Not ink.
Not letters.
Not files.
But business identity.
That identity must exist first.
Now let’s bring it home.
People love the idea of finding names and flipping them.
It feels easy.
Low risk.
Quick payoff.
Trademark law blocks that on purpose.
Because markets work better when brands come from builders, not hoarders.
Builders create value.
Hoarders create friction.
So back to the first question.
What percent of registered trademarks sit unused and get sold?
Basically none.
Because the law stops that behavior early.
You must use before you own.
You must build before you sell.
You must act before you assign.
In the end, trademarks aren’t about clever filings.
They’re about honest business.
They reward people who launch, serve, and earn trust.
Not people who park names and wait.
That’s why trademark law feels different from patents, domains, and other assets.
It’s not about grabbing space.
It’s about earning recognition.
And recognition only comes from use.