VAULT Trademark Strategy

Owner: CSO (Trill) in coordination with Moore & Van Allen IP group. Backup counsel for TM only: Alston & Bird IP group (Atlanta) if MVA capacity is an issue. Filer of record: Moore & Van Allen. USPTO strategy: Intent to Use (ITU) filings for marks not yet in commerce, Use-based for marks in commerce as of the club opening.

1. Marks to Protect

Primary marks:

1. VAULT (word mark, standard character)
2. VAULT (design mark, logo with the crest)
3. THE VAULT INVITATIONAL (word mark)
4. THE VAULT INVITATIONAL (design mark, competition logo)
5. VAULT CHARLOTTE (word mark, for the flagship location)
6. VAULT (script wordmark for apparel labeling)

Secondary marks to file in Y2:

7. BLACK CARD (in fitness/wellness context, will require analysis given American Express prior registrations, likely file as VAULT BLACK CARD)
8. FOUNDING MEMBER series marks (design mark on the crest)
9. Any signature class series names (to be developed by Head of Instructors)

Do not file:

• Generic terms like “recovery lounge” or “cold plunge sanctuary”
• Descriptive phrases that fail USPTO’s distinctiveness test
• Marks tied to co-branded capsules (partner owns their side)

2. Class Coverage

USPTO classes to file across:

Class 41: Education and Entertainment Services

Coverage: fitness classes, wellness classes, dance instruction, pole instruction, competition production, entertainment events, live performances, competition streaming, educational content licensing.

Filed for: VAULT (word and design), THE VAULT INVITATIONAL (word and design), VAULT CHARLOTTE.

Priority: highest. This class covers the core VAULT service and the competition IP simultaneously. Both are essential.

Class 25: Clothing, Footwear, Headgear

Coverage: apparel, athletic wear, activewear, athleisure, headwear, footwear, socks, robes, loungewear.

Filed for: VAULT (word and design), VAULT (script wordmark).

Priority: highest. The apparel line requires this class before first commercial sale. File as Intent-to-Use before opening, convert to Use-based upon first drop.

Class 44: Medical and Wellness Services

Coverage: wellness services, recovery services (cold plunge, sauna, contrast therapy), body treatments, mind-body wellness, meditation guidance.

Filed for: VAULT (word and design).

Priority: high. Protects the recovery and wellness identity separately from Class 41 fitness identity. Recovery is a distinct legal category and worth its own filing.

Class 43: Services for Providing Food and Drink

Coverage: café services, hospitality services, catering for events at the club, private event hospitality.

Filed for: VAULT (word and design).

Priority: high. Protects the café identity, which is a distinct trademark category from fitness. Also protects hospitality for corporate events and competition hospitality suites.

Class 9: Downloadable Content and Software

Coverage: downloadable content (VAULT-branded meditation, mobility, class content), mobile applications, streaming content, digital publications.

Filed for: VAULT (word and design), THE VAULT INVITATIONAL (word and design).

Priority: high for VAULT (for the app and content licensing to corporate accounts), highest for THE VAULT INVITATIONAL (for streaming and broadcast).

Class 35: Advertising, Business Management, Retail Services

Coverage: retail store services (physical boutique), online retail services (DTC ecommerce), corporate wellness services.

Filed for: VAULT (word and design).

Priority: medium. Some overlap with Class 25 but Class 35 is required for the retail service function separate from the goods themselves.

Class 45: Legal and Personal Services (Y2 evaluation)

Coverage: dating and concierge services (if the C-suite concierge scales into a broader service offering), social networking (if the app builds member-to-member networking).

Filed for: Y2 evaluation only. Not Y1.

3. Filing Sequence and Budget

Filing order (Y1):

Month 0 (pre-formation, ideally 6 months before club opens): - VAULT word mark, Class 41 and Class 44 (ITU): 250 filing fee per class per mark plus 2,200 attorney fee. Total 2,700. - THE VAULT INVITATIONAL word mark, Class 41 and Class 9 (ITU): 2,700.

Month 2: - VAULT design mark (crest logo), Class 41, 44, 25, 43, 9, 35: 250 x 6 classes plus 3,800 attorney fee. Total 5,300. - VAULT word mark expansion to Class 25, 43, 9, 35: 250 x 4 classes plus 2,200 attorney fee. Total 3,200.

Month 4: - THE VAULT INVITATIONAL design mark, Class 41 and 9: 250 x 2 plus 2,200 attorney fee. Total 2,700. - VAULT script wordmark for apparel, Class 25: 2,700. - VAULT CHARLOTTE word mark, Class 41: 2,700.

Y1 US filing total: roughly 21,000 including attorney fees.

Ongoing Y1: office action responses (USPTO typically issues one office action per filing, 60 percent of the time). Budget 8,000 to 15,000 for office action responses.

Y1 total trademark budget: 30,000 to 40,000.

Y2 filings: BLACK CARD (VAULT BLACK CARD), signature class series marks, any additional design marks. Budget 12,000 to 20,000.

4. Search and Clearance

Before any filing, Moore & Van Allen runs full USPTO clearance searches on each mark in each class.

Known conflicts to analyze:

• “Vault” is a common English word. There are 400-plus live USPTO registrations for VAULT in various classes. Most are in unrelated classes (banking, gaming, storage). The relevant question: is there a live VAULT registration in Class 41 fitness or Class 25 activewear that blocks?

  • Preliminary search suggests no direct blocker in Class 41 fitness or Class 25 activewear as of 2026 refresh. Confirm with formal clearance opinion.
  • Design mark (the crest) has a higher clearance probability because it is visual.

• “The Vault” and “Vault Fitness” are known common law uses by several regional gyms. None have federal registration in Class 41 as far as preliminary search indicates. Common law rights may exist in specific geographies (a single gym in a specific state). Moore & Van Allen conducts state common law search plus USPTO search.

• “THE VAULT INVITATIONAL” is likely clear because “invitational” combined with “vault” is distinctive. Confirm formally.

• Apparel Class 25 clearance is harder because many small activewear brands use VAULT informally. Design mark for apparel labeling is likely safer than the standard character word mark.

Clearance opinion from Moore & Van Allen before filing costs 2,500 to 4,500 per mark. Do not skip. A rejected application after 6 months of delay is more expensive than an upfront clearance opinion.

Backup mark strategy: if VAULT (standard character) is blocked in a critical class, pivot to VAULT CLUB or THE VAULT CLUB as the fallback wordmark, with design mark carrying primary brand weight. Do not build the brand identity around a mark that clearance opinion says is genuinely blocked.

5. International Roadmap

Y1: US only. No international filings.

Y2 (post-Series Seed if applicable, or once revenue supports it): - Madrid Protocol filing for VAULT and THE VAULT INVITATIONAL in target countries. - Target countries: Canada, UK, EU, Australia, UAE. - Cost: 12,000 to 20,000 per mark for Madrid basket coverage.

Y3: - Individual country filings where Madrid does not adequately cover: Japan, South Korea (both have distinctive filing requirements for the pole and dance category), Mexico.

The competition IP is the international driver. THE VAULT INVITATIONAL becomes a globally streamed event by Y3, and international trademark coverage protects sponsorship and licensing revenue outside the US.

Do not file internationally in Y1. It is premature and burns capital that belongs in the US filing strength and in operations.

6. Domain and Handle Strategy

Domains owned Y1: - vault.club (primary, if available; alternates thevault.club, vaultcharlotte.club) - thevaultinvitational.com and .club - vault-apparel.com (redirect to shop.vault.club) - vault-corporate.com (redirect to corporate landing page) - Common typos and adjacent marks: vaultclubcharlotte.com, thevaultclt.com

Registrar: Cloudflare Registrar for all core domains. Not GoDaddy. Cloudflare has zero markup on renewals and better security posture.

Social handles owned Y1: - @thevault (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, Threads) if available - @vaultclt (backup) - @thevaultinvitational (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube specifically for competition)

Trill secures the handles before public announcement. If @thevault is taken across platforms, evaluate purchase from the current holder through a domain broker (Escrow.com preferred) or pivot to @vaultclt as primary.

7. Enforcement Posture

VAULT enforces its marks. Not aggressively, not litigiously, but consistently.

Enforcement policy:

• Small operators using “the vault” for a local yoga studio or gym in a distant geography: do not send C&D unless they enter the athleisure apparel category or the streamed competition category. Small operators drain legal budget without providing return.
• Any use of the crest design mark: immediate C&D through Moore & Van Allen, no exceptions.
• Any use of “The Vault Invitational” or similar competition mark: immediate C&D, this is the highest value IP asset.
• Any apparel use of VAULT with athletic positioning that could confuse consumers: C&D, willingness to litigate if refused.
• Any use in dating apps or entertainment platforms that touches Taj’s brand context: C&D through counsel.

Monitoring: Corsearch or Markify trademark watch service, roughly 3,500 per year for full monitoring across US filings and common law online use.

Domain enforcement: UDRP proceedings for any bad-faith domain squatting. Budget one UDRP per year, 4,500 to 8,000.

8. Ownership Structure of Marks

All marks owned by VAULT IP LLC (Delaware).

Assignments in place before any filing:

• Taj Hines personal assignment of any pre-formation IP contribution to VAULT IP LLC
• Trill Walker personal assignment of any pre-formation brand architecture, competition IP, or naming contribution to VAULT IP LLC
• Any contractor or designer who touched the brand (logo designer, brand guidelines author, competition brand designer) must sign a work-for-hire assignment to VAULT IP LLC before or at the time of engagement

The Walker Group specifically executes a work-for-hire assignment for all competition production deliverables. TWG is a service provider, not an IP owner. This is written into the MSA (see 00_ENTITY_STRUCTURE Related Party section).

9. Cost Summary

Y1 total trademark spend: 30,000 to 40,000 US filings and clearance. Y2 total: 20,000 to 35,000 US expansion plus Madrid basket. Y3 total: 25,000 to 45,000 individual country expansion plus enforcement.

Cumulative 3-year trademark budget: 75,000 to 120,000. This is the price of owning the brand at scale, not renting it.

Any capital efficiency conversation that suggests deferring Class 41 or Class 25 filings past month 6 gets a hard no from CSO. Those are the two classes where a squatter or a copycat causes the most damage in the least time.