Is It Time to Legally Register Your Trade/Service Mark?
Is It Time to Legally Register Your Trade/Service Mark?
It’s very upsetting to find someone using your business name, or one that is “confusingly similar.” If you’ve taken legal steps to protect your name, you are in a much better position to protect your interests.
* If you are successful, you will be copied.
I learned this lesson the hard way. When my Заплати другому business partner and I started Tables to Teapots (a retail store in Acton, MA), we had no idea how successful we would be. After several years of hard work, a Sony-Ericsson W910i TV feature on Chronicle Canon HR10 and a story in Inc. Magazine, our business was booming. Then one day, a customer came in and said, “I didn’t know you’d opened up in New Hampshire.” Well, we hadn’t opened up in NH. But, an enterprising copycat had opened a store and тренажер для пресса Симферополь called it NH-Tables to Teapots.
We were lucky. While we had the rights clearly established in Massachusetts, we had Весы кухонные купить not filed a federal Trademark protecting deer hunting land for sale in georgia the name in other states. By taking an aggressive position,
I was able to convince the NH copycat to change the name of his business.
Legally, our “rights” to the name attach from the time we used it in commerce. However, we would have been on stronger footing if we had registered the Trademark.
Trademark/Service Mark Registration
Any word, phrase, name, symbol, sound … that identifies or distinguishes your product or service from those made or sold by others, is eligible for Trademark Protection. (Trademark applies to products; Service mark applies to services.)
Check to Confirm that Your Name is Available.
Before you invest in applying for a Trade/Service hobson city al realestate mark, it’s important to search and see if anyone else is claiming the name or similar name. You can search online for the Internet domain name (www.networksolutions.com). You can also search on the Web site of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov). These searches do not guarantee that the name is not in use, but they are a good indication of availability.
Steps to Protect Your Name
1. Reserve the Internet Domain name.
2. Use TM or SM symbols.
Put the Trademark (TM) or Service mark (SM) symbol on your materials. This puts the world on notice that you are claiming the mark.
3. Register in your State.
In Massachusetts, the filing fee is $50 and lasts 10 years.
4. Register in the US.
The Federal filing fee is $375 and once approved you can use the ® (stands for registered mark), and the protection lasts so long as the mark is used in commerce.
5. Register Internationally.
International registration has become much easier with the Madrid Protocol (effective November 2003), which allows a mark to be protected in several Nokia E65 countries by filing a single application.
In conclusion, if your business name, tagline or brand is important to your business, then it makes sense to take steps to legally protect it.
Jean Sifleet is a practical and experienced business attorney whose career spans many years in large multi-national corporations and includes three prichard alabama real estate successful entrepreneurial ventures. Jean has extensive experience in dealing with intellectual property matters in the large and small companies and as a small business owner. She has authored numerous books and publications on avoiding legal pitfalls in doing business. This article is excerpted from Космодиск Престиж Днепропетровск her new book, Advantage IP – Profit from Your Great Ideas (Infinity 2005). For more information, Jean’s website is http://www.smartfast.com
70s Theme Party: Think More Than Just Disco!
When people think of ideas for a 70s theme party, they think of dancing music, disco balls, polyester clothes and bad hair! Well, that may be a piece of what the seventies Whirlpool AFG 8164 IX were about, but it isn’t everything. Allow me to suggest some somewhat more unique ideas for planning a 70s theme party:
In 1975 Saturday Night Live made its debut on the national airwaves. The characters created by the initial cast are still difficult to surpass. Invite your guests to come dressed as their favorite Saturday Night Live characters. Set up televisions playing SNL episodes (you can rent the “best 9-ти минутный маринатор Винница of” series) horse back riding with the sound down. If you want to expand the options for costumes open it up to any favorite 70s celebrities including TV characters, actors/actresses, movie characters and musicians. Suggestions would include KISS, Characters from Grease or Saturday Night Fever, Charlie’s Angels, The Godfather, Rocky, anyone from Rocky Horror Picture Show, a