Starting your own business can be one of the greatest joys in life. But for first-time entrepreneurs it can be an endeavor filled with unexpected challenges and potential pitfalls. It’s more than just opening a store or posting a web site and beginning to sell your goods or services. It is complying with legal requirements, obtaining financing, and […]
Yes, I’m a lawyer. But I promise (Scout’s honor) that you can trust what I’m about to tell you: Your business needs to protect its trademarks. You may be saying to yourself, “Look at this attorney trying to drum up more business for himself and his brethren attorneys. How original.” But my motivation is steeped […]
The mail comes and you notice a letter from a law firm you don’t recognize. You open the letter hoping for the best but fearing the worst. The letter begins “We represent the ABC Company in the protection of their intellectual property rights. It has recently come to our client’s attention that you are using a trademark […]
Grand chocolatier Nestle recently won a trademark battle with rival confectioner Cadbury. The case was about the unique shape of Nestle’s famed Kit Kat bar. The case began years ago when Nestle sought to register the four-fingered shape of the Kit Kat bar as a trademark in the European Union (EU). In 2002, the Office […]
Trademarks can last forever. Unlike patents and copyrights, trademarks are not limited to a set term of years. That being said, a common misconception concerning trademarks is that once registered they last forever and do not need to be renewed. This is not the case. All trademark holders must realize that to keep their federal […]
It happens all the time. An entrepreneur starts a business, with the perfect name, brand, and domain. They set up a fan page on Facebook. Then they organize the entity, pouring time and resources into the project. And then, the unthinkable happens. A cease and desist letter arrives in the mailbox, demanding they stop what they’re […]
Trademarks serve to identify the source of your goods and services. From time to time, however, others will seek to benefit from your hard work in developing your brand. How? They use a trademark that is confusingly similar to yours and then, borrowing on the good will you have built in your brand, begin to steal […]
Twenty years ago few people had heard of the Internet. Ten years ago few people had heard of a smart phone. Today, the world is shrinking as it becomes more connected than ever before. People access the Internet routinely through their smart phones and tablet computers and more and more do so by and through […]
Did you know that the protection of artistic works in the United States is founded in our U.S. Constitution? At the time the constitution was written our founding fathers recognized that artists should maintain rights in their works sufficient to inspire continued creativity without the fear that their works would be wrongfully misappropriated. You can find this […]
A trademark includes any word, name, symbol, or device used in commerce to identify the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. In short, a trademark is a brand name such as Coca-Cola® for beverages, the Nike swoosh for shoes, and FedEx® for package delivery services.
