Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

John,

Some general comments regarding your questions.
[Note that this is not considered legal advice.  I have not been retained and I do not have all the facts.]

It is possible to register a trademark even after you have started using it.  You get some protection just from the use, but additional protection from the registration.

Applying for a trademark registration permits you to use "SM" or "TM".  Once it is registered you can use ® with it.

In order to maintain a strong trademark, you need to monitor for infringment and enforce it against those that are infringers.  If someone is using the name in an un-related industry, that is likely not an infringement.

- Erik


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tm4smallbiz.com - trademarks for small businesses

Erik M. Pelton, Attorney at Law
Top 10 National Attorney Award Winner - 2005 NameProtect`s Trademark Insider®

ph: 703-525-8009
fax: 703-525

In order to maintain a strong trademark, you need to monitor for infringment and enforce it against those that are infringers.  If someone is using the name in an un-related industry, that is likely not an infringement.

Yes, I understand this isn`t legal advice.

Isn`t this monitoring and enforcement impractical for most startups? I understand Coke has a team of people who go into Pepsi vendors asking for a "coke", and if they are given a Pepsi instead they take action. This is necessary to keep Coke from becoming a generic name.

Can a small business afford to do this? If not, should a startup spend any of the precious few dollars available for startup to protect the name?

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John S. Wren, MBA.+
Ben Franklin`s Small Business Chamber of Commerce, Inc.
Ideas into action since 1727.+
www.JohnWren.com+
JohnSWren@aol.com+(303)861-1447

A name and trademark is extremely valuable to any small business, and thus I view the cost of protection and monitoring as an investment.  The investment also greatly reduces the odds of (a) having to defend a challenge over the name from another party (and expensive legal fees), and (b) having to change names and re-brand once the business is established, which also can be expensive and slow growth or even cause a loss of customers.

See my website here for some more information on the value of trademark registration: http://www.tm4smallbiz.com/tm_register.html

- Erik


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tm4smallbiz.com - trademarks for small businesses

Erik M. Pelton, Attorney at Law
Top 10 National Attorney Award Winner - 2005 NameProtect`s Trademark Insider®

ph: 703-525-8009
fax: 703-525

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Ken Robert, Creative Career Consultant Escape the job-eat-job world with a Creative Career Change.

Joan,

You might try using the tips and techniques described in Sam Horn`s book, "POP!" which stands for Purposeful, Original, and Pithy.  The book is helpful not only for naming your business, but for creating your message as well.

You can also check out her blog, POP! of Mind at http://www.popofmind.blogspot.com/

Check it out.  I think you`ll find it helpful.




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Ken Robert, Creative Career Consultant Escape the job-eat-job world with a Creative Career Change.

Book looks interesting. Will check out blog. Thanks for the input.


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Joan,

Check to see if there is a Small Business Development Center in your area - http://www.asbdc-us.org/.  They might have a counselor who can offer some guidance.

Thanks,

- John

Erik:

Thanks so much for the great information and website references. My instinct told me early on that this was/is an important step in the startup process. Although initially I want "small", I would hate to have to say no to growth simply because I didn`t cover this crucial step. Although I am guilty of over thinking tasks and procrastinating, I certainly don`t want to back track. Thanks again, Joan

Word Lab is another great place for help in naming companies.

http://www.wordlab.com/wordboard/



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I am wanting to use my two children`s first names as a business name.  It has a nice ring to it when the two are put together.  However, the names when put together are the name of a famous NFL pro football player.  The player has the pure name .com website. 

Is there any legal issues to using the name?  If so, could I simply put the word "Agency" as part of the business name?  (the .com of name+"agency" is available).

Thanks,
BigTop
"It`s always a circus!"