Posts Tagged ‘trademark registration’

A Trademark Attorney Can Ensure Your Trademark Is Defensible

November 16th, 2010

So you’ve got your product, financing and mission statement solidified and you’re prepared to set up the “open for business” sign. Here is the time to consult with a trademark attorney to secure your business’s name and to really make it bullet proof against infringement.

You’ll find out that trademarks are divided into four categories: descriptive, suggestive, fanciful and arbitrary, and range in strength of protection from weakest to strongest, in that order. A descriptive name (SUPER GLUE), supposing it is approved to begin with, can seldom be defended until it has been associated with a product for no less than five years. Fanciful (EXXON, KODAK) and arbitrary (APPLE, when used for computers, not fruit) are the most protectable, while suggestive (JAGUAR, PLAYBOY) names lie somewhere in the middle.

A dependable trademark registration lawyer will help you choose a company name that is both available and distinctive; making sure it can be listed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). A fifth category, generic (aspirin), cannot be registered as a trademark, although some very successful trademarks have become commonly used through wide usage and recognition. The newest instance of this phenomenon is “Google”, which went from trademark to verb in less than five years and has become impossible to safeguard from common usage.

The registration process has been refined in the last few years through the establishment of the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) that enables companies to apply for trademarks online and for less cash than the standard methods require.

When your trademark has been registered with USPTO, it is guarded by laws, but it is up to you, as the business owner, to guard it from usurpation. It takes eternal vigilance, specifically in light of the growing incursions of the internet and social networks. A simple, although not foolproof method to indicate ownership is to position a ™ or (r) next to the company name. You may use the former anytime, but it is unlawful to use the circled “R” before the trademark has been actually registered. If you do discover a violation, it is crucial that you contact a trademark infringement lawyer right away to put a stop to the use of your mark.

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Stephen Daniels is an acclaimed internet marketing strategist. For a professional intellectual property attorney in New York, he recommends Baker and Rannells, PA. With more than 63 years of experience, their work both in the U.S. and internationally has helped guide their courteous, honest services for businesses of any size.


Know The Function Of Trademark Registration

March 31st, 2010

To completely understand the significance of the trademark services or why you should apply for trademark registration in Malaysia, you have to first also try and grasp the entire meaning and the reasons for getting a trademark. Very simply put, trademark services include that a trademark is a distinguishing mark between different trades and businesses in order that the traders themselves and the customers as well are able to tell the businesses apart.

A trademark registration in Malaysia can include the official registration made of a single design or a lettering or a phrase or even a image or also, which is most commonly used – a combination of all of these or some of these. When you get a trademark registered in the country you can be sure that your trade has been marked as being distinctive.

Therefore in accordance with the trademark registration Malaysia, goods or a product might be traced back to its original manufacturer and dealer, both for good purposes and for unfortunate purposes. Which means that if there may be any problem with the product that is found, it can be traced back to its merchants and producers because of its trademark providing to which company it belongs. Also, the trademark services come in very useful for good advertising reasons as well.

Clients who like a certain product belonging to a particular company will be able to recognize and buy the product due to the distinguishing trademark that is printed on its packaging. Also, it is known promoting strategy that a particular trademark that is constantly advertised and marketed gets sold more often as the psychology of the client is prone to this kind of assertion. The pictorial illustration of the trade or the enterprise by the trademark therefore helps as lot in this purpose.

The rights that the owner of a specific trademark registration in Malaysia are also very strong. They’ve the ownership rights to the trademark as a logo and may use it for all their own trades and business concerns. Additionally, they’ve the right to take legal action against any other enterprise or commerce that uses their trademark and may charge them with a crime.

Nonetheless the only problem is that if your commerce has been marked with a trademark registration in Malaysia then it isn’t going to be valid in all other countries of the world as well. For this to be valid you’ll have to apply for trademark services in all the other countries on a separate level. Nevertheless, all these countries however who are part of the World Trade organization and even the Paris Convention fall into the category as countries where a trademark registration in Malaysia can be valid.

Any of such trademark services is legal and valid for a time period of ten years after which you’ll have to apply for a renewal of the trademark registration in Malaysia should you still wish to retain the trademark for your company or business.


The Function Of Trademark Agent Today

March 27th, 2010

A trademark agent is in some senses a person who belongs to the legal industry where they deal with patent services in such that they protect individuals’s logos and designs and making sure that they aren’t stolen by anyone else. Thus the patent services is a vital line for the trademark agent to be involved in since it involves protecting the creative expertise of so many individuals, since intellectual and artistic work is something that may very easily be stolen by another person and taken credit for.

Normally a trademark attorney is one in countries like the UK where they hold authorized positions for providing patent services for their clients as they protect the trademark and patent laws. Nevertheless, a trademark agent works in the identical manner without maybe the backing of a strong authorized background to support him or her. However, both their tasks in the patent services sphere is pretty much the same.

They have to file for and initiate for logos for their clients as a part of their patent services, in addition to, they should recommend their clients on new trademark registrations and the usage of such trademarks. Not only that but a client of theirs may want to file against another party who could have impinged upon their trademark rights, this will also have to be taken care of by the trademark agent.

However in a more comparable way does the patent attorney operate, that’s with a unique kind of trademark, which means that the claim of their clients might be not solely on the design but of their entire idea or product. The patent attorney is thus slightly different from the trademark agent though their sphere of work is the same, that they serve the various patent services, of making certain that what is yours remains solely yours to claim, by filing for logos and also by opposing others’ claims to your personal trademark.

Nevertheless there are other ways by which a patent attorney or even a trademark agent will function in a different country, it all relies on the rules and laws within the patent services of that country exclusively. Relying upon these laws can a trademark agent operate and so their services may also consecutively vary.

In lots of countries for example the trademark agent needs to have legal qualifications which implies that he or she needs to have passed the requisite legal examinations to be qualified to work as a trademark agent or even a patent attorney, while in many other countries this sort of a legal background isn’t always a strong requirement in the patent services.

Hence if you are thinking of hiring a trademark agent you first have to decide whether you really need one or not, which again depends upon the type of work you’re involved in. However, taking a bit of patent services recommendation from an experienced trademark agent or attorney will only do you good.


Trademark Filings Help Protect Your Brand

January 30th, 2010

Nowadays, businesses are in major competition around the world. Businesses spend millions of dollars on marketing just to stand out in the world of trade and to make a name for them. Huge brand names are so well known around the world that every product that comes out of that company has a specific trademark and that leads me to talk about trademark filing.

Filling your trademark has become common these days since people are more and more trying to expand their businesses beyond borders. It is important to have a company name for filling for trademark.

The process of filing for a trademark generally costs a few hundred dollars. If you do not have it already, you better decide on getting a trademark. You spend a lot of time and money building your business and its brand, so make sure you take the necessary steps to protect it.

A lot of people confuse when to use the “register” and when to use the “trademark” symbols. When you use TM, it means that you are claiming the rights in the mark. However, once you have registered your mark at the Trademark Office, then you can use the “R” mark.

You can trademark your product, tagline, name etc. If you change logos for your products often enough, then you will need to file for a new trademark each time you make a change. Also, it is important to trademark the name of your business or of your product.

I have seen many people who try to save a couple of hundred dollars and use products with trademark filing but it is a bad choice. You can end up in a court where you will have to spend millions of dollars to save yourself. You can also ruin your reputation everywhere and your well established business can do down in an instant. So, I suggest if you still haven’t done trademark filing and registration, you go for it as soon as possible.

When it comes to filing a trademark you should consider making use of an online trade mark registration service to make the trade mark registration process a less confusing one.