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Archive 2013 · Copyright your business name?

  
 
aonavy
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Copyright your business name?


How many of you copyright your business name? If you do how much and what did you need to do?

Thanks



Dec 26, 2013 at 01:57 PM
rmric0
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Copyright your business name?


You cannot. IIRC you have to register your businessname as a Trademark (which is like $300) through the PTO (just make sure no one else has registered it first). The utility seems rather limited though.

But the process is here: http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/process/index.jsp

It's a little due dilligence and then filing a form onlin



Dec 26, 2013 at 03:11 PM
Inku Yo
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Copyright your business name?


My name is trademarked.


Dec 26, 2013 at 06:04 PM
Ian Ivey
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Copyright your business name?


Copyright is a way to protect an original work, such as a photograph, a book, artwork, etc.

Trademark registration is a way to protect a trademark, which is a word, symbol, or other device that serves to indicate to consumers who or what the source of the goods or services is.

Merely using a mark in commerce provides you with some exclusive rights to that mark, so long as you are the first and only current entity to use it as a mark for the same or similar goods or services in your region. For greater ease of protection and larger geographic coverage, however, you may register your mark with your state (often through the secretary of state's office), and/or with the federal government through the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Before using a mark in commerce, it is your duty to ensure that you are not using a mark someone else already has exclusive rights to. A cursory search of the federal register on the USPTO web site can be helpful, though doing a serious trademark search takes considerably more knowledge and skill than most laypeople have.

That's because the primary issue -- the legal term is "likelihood of confusion" - is not simply a matter of seeing whether anyone is using the exact same mark for the exact goods or services.

A mark is confusingly similar to a prior registered mark if it is similar in sound, appearance, or meaning, AND if it is used on or in connection with goods or services that are similar in substance, use, or marketing channels. Each of those terms has its own legal definitions.

To register a mark costs $275 or $325 per class of goods or services. If you register for both photography services and also for photography products, which is worth considering if you conclude that registration is worth your while, that's two classes, so you'd pay about $450-$550 to the USPTO, and if you have an attorney handle your application, the attorney's fee as well (for most of my photography clients, I charge $190 to prosecute a two-class application, just to give you a reference point).

If a confusingly similar mark already exists on the federal register, or if someone recently applied for one prior to your application, then the USPTO trademark examining attorney will refuse registration of your mark. If you have an attorney who knows what he's doing handle the search and application, the attorney should find possible conflicts and advise you about the odds of success against those possible conflicts. This is one of a few places where a knowledgeable lawyer can save you a ton of money: if there's a clear conflict, you just need to switch to a new mark immediately. Doing so at this point in your business is almost always less expensive than waiting until you get a lawyer letter from the owner of the similar mark.


Benefits of registration
Federal registration gives you several rights and benefits you don't have if you just use the mark, or if you only register with your state. First and foremost, it creates the presumption that you are the rightful owner of that mark, which shifts the burden of proof from you to someone claiming infringement. It also allows you to sue in federal court (this is more valuable than most people realize, because it means you don't have to travel to an infringer's jurisdiction to sue them, and it makes a much more formidable threat in a cease-and-desist letter).

You might register if your name is unusual enough that you want to protect its uniqueness aggressively (Inku is a great example), or if you're concerned that your name is likely to be picked up -- willfully or accidentally -- by someone else looking for a good name to use.

Most photographers use their first + last name as their mark ("Ian Ivey Photography," for example). In that case, unless your name combination is fairly common, you may not want to bother, because the likelihood of someone appropriating that name is low. But if you've chosen an arbitrary or fanciful word, or if you're just using one name, then registration is more valuable.

If you'd like to discuss your mark in particular, ask another question here (others will probably benefit from the discussion), or feel free to PM me.



Dec 26, 2013 at 07:01 PM
TheGE
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Copyright your business name?


Inku Yo wrote:
My name is trademarked.


Oh yeah? MY name is Trey DeMarc!



Dec 26, 2013 at 10:47 PM
jmraso
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Copyright your business name?


I did with my name, logo and colours alltogrther and have to pay 140 euros or so every 10 years (ridicolous amount), plenty of protection in my country in many terms, I recomend doing it the price is also "ridiculous"

Jaime



Dec 27, 2013 at 08:18 AM
alohadave
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Copyright your business name?


In addition to Ian's post, you can't trademark common words, like studio or photography in your name, only the unique bits. That's part of the reason that you see so many made up business names, no one else in the world has that name, so it can be fully protected, rather than using a person/family name which can have dozens or hundreds of people with the same name offering similar servics.

I know of at least two people with my first and last names that are in photography



Dec 27, 2013 at 09:42 AM
Ian Ivey
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Copyright your business name?


alohadave is talking about terms that are "primarily merely descriptive" of the goods and services. You can register marks that contain descriptive wording, but in general you must disclaim exclusive rights to the descriptive matter, which means the non-descriptive matter is what carries your mark.


Dec 27, 2013 at 10:00 AM
nolaguy
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Copyright your business name?


I swear I practically get sexually aroused when Ian answers questions like this so generously, thoroughly and accurately.

Thanks, Ian. You're a good guy.

Chuck



Dec 27, 2013 at 06:24 PM
aonavy
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Copyright your business name?


Ian, Thank you very much for your reply. Lots of good info in there.


Dec 30, 2013 at 07:20 AM





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