One of the biggest questions I get from businesses is why they should invest in getting a trademark registration. A recent donut debate shows the importance of protecting your brand. The Holy Donut in Maine received its federal trademark registration in 2016 (Registration number 5057631). While it is located exclusively in Maine right now, the company has enforced its trademark against businesses across the country. One way it has done so is to enter into a coexistence agreement if the infringing company is not located in New England. Doing so allows the other company to still use the name but Read More
Category: business law
Brand Your Company
You know that the reputation of your business can mean the difference because success and failure. In this blog entry, I am going to explain how registering your trademark is an important way to protect your professional reputation. If you don’t protect your brand, someone can use your name, logo, or slogan, and you can’t stop them. Someone could also use your name, logo, or slogan and hurt your business by doing disreputable business. Two Trainers, One Stolen Logo I once knew someone – we’ll call her Sally – who moved cross country after riding with a trainer – we’ll Read More
An Office Action
Many people are under the mistaken impression that once they file their trademark registration for their equine business, it is automatically approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). That is not the case. The USPTO can deny the trademark for many different reasons. Some are simple and easy to fix, and some are substantive. What is an office action, and what should you do when you get one? What is an Office Action? The USPTO considers many factors when determining whether a trademark should be approved for registration. The foundation of those factors is that the trademark Read More
Supreme Court Allows “Immoral” or “Scandalous” Trademarks
Back in January, I wrote a blog post about the US Supreme Court agreeing to hear a case concerning “immoral” or “scandalous” trademarks. The case concerned the attempt by Mark Brunetti to trademark the word FUCT. This summer, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that the law denying such marks violates the First Amendment because “it disfavors certain ideas.” In its decision, the Court cited certain marks that were allowed, such as a game called “Praise the Lord,” while other marks, such as “Bong Hits for Jesus” were denied. The Court left open the possibility that Congress might Read More
The Trouble with Photos
I don’t know about you but one of the fun things about owning a horse business is that I get to look through interesting photos whenever I put together material for my website or social media. There are literally millions of photos online to look at. Really. I just did a Google search for “horse image,” for example, and got 1,990,000,000 results in .52 seconds. I could just download any number of photos for my website and social media accounts, right? Wait. Whoa. Not so fast. Did you read the viral story about the hipster? Yes, this does connect to Read More