Starting a business can be scary. Legal help doesn't have to be.
Starting a business can be scary. Legal help doesn't have to be.
We know that taking steps to legally protect your business can sometimes be overwhelming. We are dedicated to providing you the help you need to feel secure in your entrepreneurial journey.
We take the time to ask a lot of questions during our initial consultation so that we fully understand your situation. After that, we follow up with personalized recommendations based on your budget and your needs.
Whether you need help with a trademark, copyright, contract, or legal advice, we'll help you guard your life’s work by turning your business into a protected brand.
A trademark is a unique identifier of your brand that helps consumers recognize your product or service offerings in the market and distinguish them from competitors. A trademark can be anything from your business name, to a signature product or offering, to a course name and includes both logos and wordmarks (names). You can also register design marks for design elements, as well as trade dress for things like product packaging. You should carefully consider a trademark if you plan to offer products or services beyond a hyper-local setting, and especially if you plan to have an Internet presence for your brand.
Registering your trademarks can help deter potential infringers, and can provide a mechanism for legal recourse in the case of infringement. Adding registered intellectual property to your business can increase your brand value exponentially opening up the door to licensing opportunities and more. Crafting unique identifiers, even if they are unregistered trademarks, can also strengthen your brand by setting you apart from competitors in consumers’ minds.Here’s a quick assessment to determine if you should apply for a trademark registration:
If the answer to any of the above questions is “yes,” you should consider registering your trademark.Because of the complexity of trademark law and the fact that registering a trademark incorrectly could cost you big time down the road, working with a trademark attorney to secure your trademark is always best.
Isn’t it funny that sometimes a new business or course name will just pop into our heads and other times it seems to take forever to come up with a name?
First and foremost, before you pay an expensive (or even cheap) designer to create your logo and other branding elements around your chosen business name, the first thing you want to do is make sure that you’re not infringing on anyone else’s business name or trademark. While this is always important to consider, it’s especially important if you plan to be involved in interstate commerce or have an Internet presence. Ideally, you would want a trademark attorney to run an in-depth search on any potential business names you want to use. This search will check trade databases, trademark registries, domain names, business entities, and scour the Internet to find uses similar to yours. The expense of running a comprehensive name search pales in comparison to a trademark infringement suit or having to rebrand all of your media, advertising, etc. after you have begun using it.
Second, names that are suggestive, arbitrary or fanciful rather than descriptive of the products and services you offer are always going to be more easily Trademarked and will distinguish you better from your competitors. For example, Apple as a brand name for computers is arbitrary and highly distinguishable from something like Your Laptop Device Company. Also, you simply cannot trademark Apple when used to describe the fruit apples since it is “descriptive” of the thing you referencing. There is nothing wrong with having a descriptive name like Your Laptop Device Company, but if you plan to build a brand and register a trademark, you will want something distinct.
Lastly, there are 2 different trademark registries. One is the principal registry where most of the arbitrary, fanciful and suggestive marks are registered due to their distinctiveness. The second registry is called the supplemental registry, where a bunch of descriptive marks are initially registered. The difference between the two registries lies in the level of protection you gain as a registered trademark with the principal registry essentially giving you more protections, but the supplemental also keeps infringers at bay. Something to consider is that after 5 years of doing business even with a descriptive brand name you can reapply to be put on the principal registry due to gained market recognition and distinctiveness through consistent use.
If you are struggling to come up with a brand name that fits your business, I highly recommend the book Hello My Name is Awesome by Alexandra Watkins, which goes over a ton of naming tips and tricks and also lays out a strategy for creating amazingly suggestive brand names.
One of my least favorite things is when I have to tell my 1:1 Trademark clients that they have to consider rebranding, which 9 times out of 10 involves a name change.Luckily, I’ve got the steps down pat on how to change your LLC name so hopefully, I can save you the headache of looking that up yourself.
If you’re considering a name change for your LLC follow these steps to make it official:
Yes and no. Yes, you need a contract that is specific to your industry and your needs. No, you don't have to pay for a brand-spanking new contract because most of what you need will have been done before. That said, if you go to an attorney and tell them that's what you need, they're going to charge you for your time. Between an initial discovery call, any necessary research, and revisions, that adds up.
A great option for client-based businesses is to use an industry-specific contract template. I've made my most popular contracts available as customizable templates on my online shop, The Boutique Lawyer. Feel free to check those out and see if our templates meet your needs. If not, let us know - we're adding more every day and love suggestions for what to work on next!
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