Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi,

I am wanting to know if anyone has filed their own trademark application with the trademark office.  How hard was it?  Was the paperwork confusing?  How hard is it to keep up with the renewals?  Is it something that I want to try on my own or do I need to just bite the bullet and hire an attorney to help me?  If so, how do you find someone that can handle it for you. 

Thank you in advance for your advise and help.  I have been using my logo and name for about five years and am now starting to expand the area I will be marketing to.

Lynn

Filing for a Trademark is a very simple and straightforward process, while you can pay an attorney a chunk of change to do it for you there is no need for that. Just read this page from Nolo.com (and the pages that follow) to get a good idea of what it is all about. Also, you`ll be able to judge for yourself whether this is something you can do or not.

For step by step instructions on how to do it buy this book for 40 bucks.

I would contact your local SBA office and ask to speak to a SCORE counselor.  And only take advise on this topic from lawyers.

I am not one, but do know a trademark/patent lawyer.  When you`re ready, or if you do it on your own and realize that you do need a lawyer, feel free to  contact me for his information.

Notwithstanding some of the anti-lawyer sentiment to the contrary, trademark lawyers can be very helpful in not only guiding you through the trademark application process, but also conducting a comprehensive trademark search prior to filing the application.  The trademark search serves to determine the likelihood that the US Patent and Trademark Office may object to your proposed trademark on the grounds that is confusingly similar to existing trademarks.  Understanding the nuances of trademark law is very important in reviewing the results of any such search.

I and others on this board perform this sort of work, and I repeat Maria`s comment about only taking advice from qualified lawyers on this subject.


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The comments above clearly state that you should only take advise from a lawyer in this matter. I agree with that.

Please note that the book I referred you to was written by not one or two lawyers but a team of lawyers lead by Steven Elias his biography then reviewed by other lawyers.


That said, IMO there are certain patent issues that no doubt require an attorney were it would be foolish to attempt and do it without proper counsel. For a simple Trademark application where you are filing for a logo or something of the sort that is something that most people are capable of handling. Similar to your taxes, yes if you are running a business where large sums of money and many claims are made you should hire a CPA, but if you are filing something that only needs a 1040EZ form paying a CPA hundreds of dollars is (IMO) a waste of money as most people are capable of doing that.

Hello, Great information from all of you. My question is can you market your product while waiting for your trademark to be registered, it seems to take a long time. Can you use just TM in the meantime.

Thanks