Use in commerce means using your trademark in selling or transporting your goods out of state or in providing services to customers who live outside your state. For example, you might grow wheat in Kansas and sell it to buyers in Massachusetts or Mexico. Or you might provide website design services from your home in Oregon to customers in Georgia and Guam.

To register your trademark, you’ll need to provide evidence that you’re using it in commerce. This means you’ll need to submit a specimen showing how you use your trademark. You’ll also need to provide the date you first used your trademark in commerce and the date you first used it anywhere. You must provide proof of use of the mark in the US at the time of filing.  No further filings should be necessary (other than addressing office actions or oppositions). A proof of use can be an image of the trademark on the product, or an active website selling to U.S. customers.

You may amend an application to one based on use of the mark in commerce under Section 1(a) only if you have used the mark in commerce in connection with all the goods and/or services listed under this basis as of the application filing date.  To assert this basis, you must provide: the statement stating that he mark is in use in commerce and was in use in commerce as of the application filing date; the date of first use of your mark anywhere on the goods or in connection with the services; the date of first use of your mark in commerce on the goods or in connection with the services; and at least one “specimen” for each class showing how you use the mark in commerce with the goods and/or services.

Further required is the statement that the specimen was in use in commerce at least as early as the application filing date, and verification in an affidavit or signed declaration of the above statements and dates of use.