Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

My business can`t afford an attorney.  I just opened and the business is not yet profitable.  I`ve probably spent in the neighborhood of $2-3K of my own money in branding my product (incorporation costs, domain registration, logo design, packaging costs, etc...)  This does not include the many hours of time I have spent in developing the brand.  Also, switching domain names will set me back to square one in terms of search engines.  I`ve proposed to Edson Wright that I switch my domain name to www.cozy-cookies.com.  I`m waiting to hear what they think.  We have a 3 hour time lag and have had trouble hooking up on the phone since neither of us man the phones all day. 

Well this is tricky indeed!  I will take all opinions with a grain of salt.  What is meant by "strength of mark"? 

What I would like to know now is:  If I try to register "Cozy Cookies"  (their mark is "COZYCOOKIE") what are the chances that it will be approved?  I can`t afford to lose the $325 fee and all the time by trying to register it and having it fail.  Should I cut my losses and just start over with a new name? 

Having a new business and trying to build a base is tough - very tough.  If it costs you $3,000 and many hours of time each time you have to start over with a new brand, that has its own expenses as well.  Hiring an attorney is a significant expense.  Getting sued is also a significant expense.  I don`t know that there are any easy pain-free answers here.  Did you understand the point that your filing for your own trademark application is NOT a way out of the situation at this point?

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James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com

As a good friend of mine told me, as long as you are not in the same industry you are OK. Remember you sell cookies, they sell teddybears. Two different industries. It would be different if you they were selling cookies just like you.
Don`t take this as legal advise, but I am in the same hole as you.
My company`s name is Nuevolution I offer web design and development, the other company is named Nuevolution, and they are a bio-research company. Two different industries and professions. So in no way am I tarnishing or infringing their name or services.
Even if I tried, their reseach doesn`t mean a thing to me. from what I know, they are aware that I excist. Now who get`s the trademark for the name? Well, Im working on it. Now would I impose on them using it, Not at all, two different industries.
What you can do is contact James Lindon, he can explain it better than I can.


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Edgar Monroy
Web Developer / Owner / Consultant
When starting your own business the need to "know-how" is greater than money!
http://www.nuevolution.net

At this point, and based on a previous discussion hosted both by Pepper and P&T, it seems to me the problem has moved out of trademark into "enforcement."

Jennifer, you`ve said the other company not only is aware of you, but has escalated to the point they`re not happy about your company name. Which of you has the resources available to do something about it? From what you`re saying, the other company seems to have the money, time, and an attorney willing to take some sort of action.

I`m wondering if you could modify your existing brand, rather than starting over totally? Could you make your product something like "Jennifer`s Cozy Cookies?"

In that case, you`d move alphabetically into a whole different arena, and put significant distance between the two names in any search. I`m thinking that redoing the artwork only to include your name ahead of "cozy" would be much less expensive than a total rebranding, wouldn`t it?

Right now the term "cozy" is the distinctive focus. From a legal perspective, would this strategy have any benefit?

Jennifer -

I agree with ujeans take on this - since you sell actual cookies and they sell dolls that look like gingerbread cookies with a great smell, it seems to me that coordinating some of your efforts could produce a benefit for both companies.  Cross promotions would seem to be a perfect fit.  You advertise their product, they advertise your product and you help each other out  - both in terms of sales and in SEO as reciprocal links (from what I understand) help out a lot.

That would be where I`d focus my first efforts.  Make nice, be friends, help each other, everybody wins...

R-




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Quaerite Primum Regnum

"There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line."
~ Oscar Levant ~

Twitter: @rossb

Thanks for the comment Rossb.  I was starting to think that no one was reading my post.  Again, while it is good and all to consider the trademark aspects, I`d rather make friends with them.  It`s less expensive and you stand to make more money in the long run.

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Daniel the Denim Doctor

Now this is an excellent idea!  Thank you CraigL! Hopefully the artist can put my name in without messing up the look of the logo.  From a legal perspective (not that I`m a lawyer) I would think that it would calm the fears of the other company.  I will put this in my back pocket and use it if plan A does not work.  Plan A, of course, is to peacefully co-exist with the other company.

I`m not sure I understood that point actually.  I take it that succesfully registering my own mark does not prevent an infringement suit.  It seems the the main purpose of registering a trademark is to notify everyone that you are using the mark for the specified goods.

Thanks for the great input Rossb and ujeans.  As it would have it, I got to speak with the other company today.  It went better than expected.  They seem willing to work together to make the most of this.  We agreed to put a link to eachother`s websites on our own, to help redirect any lost or confused customers.  They asked that I do not sell gingerbread cookies because their product is in the shape of a gingerbread man, and so it could confuse people.  I agreed to that.  I also suggested that I sell her cookie toy on my website...we could do a drop-ship arrangement or something.  We did analyze our web traffic a bit and its pretty clear that I`m not getting any hits intended for their site.

So I will continue using the name "Cozy Cookies" at least for now.  I did like CraigL`s suggestion so much (to change the name to "Jennifer`s Cozy Cookies") that I might do it anyway.

Now one question remains:  Should I fork over all that cash and register "Cozy Cookies" (or Jennifer`s Cozy Cookies)?

Thanks everyone for pitching in to save my little cookie company!  You guys are the best.