One of the most crucial actions you must do when starting a business in Montana is trademark registration. A trademark is a special word, phrase, image, or design that sets your goods or services apart from those of your rivals. To stop others from utilizing it and confusing your customers, it’s critical to protect your trademark. We’ll walk you through the procedure of registering a trademark in Montana in this post.
Before you apply for a trademark, you should conduct a comprehensive search to ensure that no one else is using a similar mark. To look for registered and pending trademarks, use the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) of the USPTO. To identify trademarks registered in Montana, you can also search the Secretary of State’s database. If you come across a mark that is similar, you might need to change your trademark to stop infringement.
Four different categories of trademarks are available for registration in Montana: sound marks, collective marks, stylized or design marks, and standard character marks. No matter the font or style, a standard character mark protects the actual words or letters in plain text. A sound mark protects a distinctive sound connected to your brand, while a stylized or design mark protects a particular design or logo. An organization or group may use a collective mark to denote membership or affiliation.
Step Three: Submit Your Trademark Application You must submit an application to the Montana Secretary of State in order to register your trademark in Montana. The application must detail your trademark, the products or services it is connected to, and the time it was first used. Additionally, there is a charge for the application. Your trademark will be registered with the Montana Secretary of State once your application is accepted.
In Montana, a corporate structure known as a domestic profit corporation can be created with the intention of turning a profit. A domestic profit corporation must submit its articles of formation to the Secretary of State of Montana and must have one shareholder and one director at a minimum. The corporation is responsible for its debts and liabilities as a separate legal entity from its owners.
Every year, in order to keep your LLC in good standing, you must file a Montana LLC annual report with the Secretary of State of Montana. The report contains details about the LLC’s managers, registered agent, and members. The yearly report must be submitted along with a fee by April 15th of each year.
You must submit a Montana income tax return if you are a resident of Montana or have earned income there. If you are a non-resident with income from Montana, you must also file a Montana income tax return. The deadline for filing Montana income taxes is April 15th, which coincides with the federal filing deadline.
In Montana, self-employment tax includes both Social Security and Medicare taxes. The Medicare tax rate is 2.9%, and the Social Security tax rate is 12.4%. However, if you are self-employed, you might be allowed to claim a deduction on your federal income tax return for half of your self-employment tax.