TikTok Expands US Plans with New Trademarks

TikTok is taking further steps to grow its revenue streams in the U.S., filing trademarks for two services that signal expanded commercial and financial offerings. These are likely a step outside of TikTok’s app entirely, or at least incredibly expansive features built into the app that double as a secondary service.

The first trademark, “TikTok Go,” hints at a new app designed to support restaurants, retail, travel, and other industries with marketing, financial planning, and consulting services. This app could introduce a U.S. version of the “Mini Programs” popularized on Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese counterpart, which allows users to access mini-apps for activities like ordering food and booking rides, all within the primary app.

The second trademark, “TikTok PayLater,” indicates TikTok’s interest in offering a buy-now-pay-later option, similar to a service already available on TikTok’s e-commerce platform in the Philippines. This payment program would allow U.S. shoppers to split payments into instalments, potentially expanding in-app shopping options for consumers. After TikTok’s recent expansions into STEM education and being a music hub, larger-scale features and spinoff apps make a lot of sense.

While these new services could pave the way for an in-app shopping ecosystem similar to Douyin’s, which earned almost $400 billion compared to TikTok’s sub-$4 billion in 2023, Western markets have been slower to adopt social commerce. However, TikTok’s trademarks show it is optimistic that younger U.S. users will increasingly embrace in-app purchasing – something that’s only become more apparent now that they are filing trademarks ahead of whatever projects and releases they have planned.