Episode 39: Trademarks 101

We’re going to be talking ALL about one of my favorite forms of protecting your intellectual property: Trademarks! We’ll cover what exactly Trademarks are, what they cover and how YOU as a business owner can use them to protect yourself.

Things we talked about:

What is a trademark and what does it cover?

When do you trademark?

How and where do you file a trademark?

When to get an attorneys help and how I can help!

Here are a few quotes:

(3:50) "A Copyright protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as photography, movies, songs, computer software, graphic design elements, and architecture. "
(3:59) “Trademarks protect, words, phrases, symbols, and/or designs that identify and distinguish the source of the goods or services of one party from those of another. So I like to think of them as SERVICE identifiers.”
(7:21) "Trademarks do not expire after a set term of years, however you do have to keep up with regular filings to maintain your mark."
(10:26) "You should trademark your business name or your brand name or your motto or your logo at any time that you feel your brand name has found itself to have a lot of notoriety and clout within your industry. And also if you just don't want other people to use your brand name."
(12:40) " Filing a Trademark is a legal proceeding you HAVE to comply with all applicable U.S. Trademark laws and rules regarding and assuring your application is complete."
(21:40) "Because trademark protection is based on use (not registration), it is a must to search with the USPTO and also conduct a thorough internet search for use of the proposed mark."