Here?s what you need to know about trademarks.
Even though all starting businesses need one or more business licenses and tax ids before legally starting business operations, another consideration when starting a business is the trademark of the business name, product or service. After reading this article you will know what is a trademark and whether you need to register one.
What is a Trademark?
A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs. This word, symbol or design identifies and distinguishes a company?s products or services from products and services of another company. Note that a trademark of a product is the mark of the product itself or a mark associated with the offering of a product. Similarly, a trademark of a service is the mark in connection with the services.
Do I need to register a trademark?
Trademark registration is not required but it will help you in case the use of the mark is challenged. You can establish rights in a mark based on legitimate use of the mark. ?Legitimate use? in general means that the name, mark or symbol used in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services within a specified geographical region. Thus, if, for a period of time, you use the mark to sell toys in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, you acquire rights to the mark selling toys in that particular area. Or, if you do business nationwide, you acquire rights to the use of the mark, nationwide.
You can establish rights to a trademark if you register the trademark at the federal or state level. That will establish that you are commonly known by the registered trademark. If it is a name, you can establish that you are commonly know by that trademark name if you register a corporate name as a corporation or the trade name as a ?doing business as? (?DBA?). In addition, registering a trademark provides constructive notice to the public, and a presumption that you are the owner or the mark and you use it in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the registration.
Federal trademark registration allows you to to bring an action concerning the mark in federal court. The trademark registration is also a basis for registration in other countries. You can also file with the U.S. Customs Service to prevent importation of infringing foreign goods. Keep in mind, however, that you any time you claim rights in a mark, you may use the ?TM? (trademark) or ?SM? (service mark) designation to alert the public to your claim, regardless of whether you have filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. However, you may use the federal registration symbol ??? only after the United States Patent and Trademark Office actually registers a mark, and not while an application is pending. Also, you may use the registration symbol with the mark only on or in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the federal trademark registration.
How do I file a Trademark Application?
If you hire a trademark attorney, you normally fill out a secure online trademark application form. I recommend hiring an attorney because if you prepare and submit an application, you must comply with all requirements of the trademark statute and rules. If you choose to appoint an attorney to represent your interests before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will correspond only with your attorney.
Copyright (c) 2006 Elias Stassinos
About The Author
Elias Stassinos, Esquire is a trademark and incorporation attorney that has assisted thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs launch their first business enterprise. Visit his law firm Website: http://www.stassinos.com . Attorney Elias Stassinos, Esquire is also a corporate legal counsel for the leading online legal filing service at http://www.businessnameusa.com.
What is Intellectual Property?
?by: Stuart Simpson
Intellectual Property is the product of your thinking that can be used for commercial value. In other words, you think of a song and write down the words ? you have the legal right to prevent others from copying or making a song based on your lyrics. This right you have can make you money if someone is willing to pay you for your song. Maybe your boss asked you to write a computer program. Who owns the work? You may have designed a new mouse trap and have the design on computer. Or you have created a distinctive logo for your company. But Intellectual Property goes deeper than songs or even copyrights. Let?s examine the four main areas of Intellectual Property law: Trade Secrets, Copyrights, Trademarks and Patents.
Trade secrets give the owner a competitive edge. If some information has value to competitors and they don?t know about it ? then it?s a trade secret. If the information was not kept reasonably safe (secret) then it?s not a trade secret. Trade secrets may be sold with the business or stolen from bad employees. Maybe a former employee didn?t sign a non-disclosure statement before going to work at the competition. Some also reverse engineer software to gain the source code. This highly protected source code for computers is their trade secret, giving them an advantage over the competition. The trick is you have to keep your trade secrets as such, secrets.
Copyrights protect all kinds of writing by singers, writers, programmers, artists, etc? These are the best known of all intellectual property. Registering with the US Copyright office can enhance the automatic protection. You must have your copyright material on paper, tape, or computer. Copyright protection applies to the ?literal expression.? It doesn?t protect the ?underlying? theme of the writing. It must have some creativity. You can?t copyright a simple list. You don?t actually have to have a copyright notice since March 1st, 1989. The recommended notice is ?copyright? year author?s name. For example, this article will have a copyright. Copyright 2005 Stuart Simpson. But it is not necessary.
Trademarks must be a unique name, design, symbol, logo, color, container, etc?that businesses use to distinguish their goods from others in the same market. You should have a strong name for a mark, as common words receive less protection. Like Stuart?s Cold Ice Cream Company. My name and the descriptive term (cold) are weak marks. But a distinctive name like Netflix, is a strong mark. Netflix is technically a ?service? mark. It falls into the same category as trademarks. Your trademark must be submitted to the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). But first, the mark must be put into use ?in commerce that Congress may regulate.? This means you have to sell across state lines or have a business that caters to interstate or international travelers. After you do this, you can file another form to show the mark is actually being used. The PTO checks for similar marks. You can?t use the circled R just yet. You can only use this if your logo or mark has been registered.
Patent law gives inventor of new and special invention the right to use this invention for a fixed period of time. The US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) must find that the invention qualifies for patent protection. Your invention has to be new and novel, not obvious. What do you do with a patent? Normally, the inventors get a license agreement with a company to produce the product for a period of time. In exchange, the company pays the inventor royalties for each item sold.
Intellectual property goes further in depth on each of these items. I wanted to give you a brief description to help broaden your knowledge base when writing, creating or inventing. If your work falls into one of the above categories, do more research. I will be writing on each specific area in the future.
About The Author
2005 Copyright Stuart Simpson
But do I need that copyright? Be sure to read the above article.
http://www.patent-review.com
Source: http://productpatent.org/trademarks-a-patent-do-you-need-a-trademark-by-elias-stassinos
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