TradeMark Express: A Daily Blog: Intellectual Property Law

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Intellectual Property Law Blogs

Intellectual Property Law

TradeMark Express: A Daily Blog

Trademarks, copyrights, patents, starting a business and other miscellaneous topics.

Post Frequency: 2.2/day

Last Entry: November 17, 2009 at 12:40:00

What a Tweeting Mess!Back in August,

Posted on November 17, 2009
What a Tweeting Mess!Back in August, I posted about Twitter filing for the mark Retweet. The USPTO has since sent Twitter's legal counsel an Office Action suspending Retweet's application based on prior filings. However, let's take a closer look at these filings & perhaps we can figure out where Retweet is going to end up - abandoned or a real, live Federal trademark...

Trademarks for the Troops A hearty

Posted on November 11, 2009
Trademarks for the Troops A hearty THANK YOU from all of us at TradeMark Express to our troops.Since it's Veteran's Day, I thought it'd be nifty to take a look at filed trademarks that are about the vets. Hope for Veterans is owned by Community Hope and "is a transitional housing program...

Trademarkia Launched in September

Posted on November 10, 2009
Trademarkia Launched in September of this year, Trademarkia is a free, incredibly easy to use search engine that allows users to search the USPTO database of Federal trademarks, be they live or dead. Two of my favorite features: * Logo Themes: The USPTO does offer the capability to search logos on their site but it's a bit cumbersome...

Distinctiveness & Descriptiveness

Posted on November 04, 2009
Distinctiveness & Descriptiveness ContinuumHere's a visual snapshot of the USPTO's Distinctiveness & Descriptiveness Continuum. Click to view a larger version. I hope it makes the PTO's guidelines a little clearer plus I like charts, graphs & whatnot :)So far I've written about merely descriptive marks so I'll be sure to hit the other sections & re-post this visual with links to each new post...

To access blog feed reader register for free. (You will also learn about new ways to read and access the freshest law blogs.)

Descriptive TrademarksThe title

Posted on October 29, 2009
Descriptive TrademarksThe title here is a bit misleading as descriptive words are not typically allowed to be registered on the USPTO?s trademark Principal Register. Let?s back up a little... One of the main points (some would argue THE main point) of having a Federal trademark is to have exclusive rights to a name, a logo or a slogan within your industry...

Free Preliminary Trademark SearchTradeMark

Posted on October 27, 2009
Free Preliminary Trademark SearchTradeMark Express implemented a new service recently - ONE free preliminary USPTO search completed over the phone with you. We always conduct a preliminary USPTO search before we start comprehensive search but this new feature does NOT require that an order be placed first...

Twitmark ExpressTradeMark Express

Posted on September 28, 2009
Twitmark ExpressTradeMark Express has joined the twitter party finally. I've been toying around with the idea for awhile and finally got around to it.Follow me at TradeMarkExpresTweet you later!

Trademark International Class:

Posted on September 22, 2009
Trademark International Class: Class 35 (Advertising and Business Services) All goods or services are categorized within International Classes (IC hereafter). Goods run from classes IC 1-34, while Services are in IC 35-45. Please see a complete chart here...

Yadda Yadda YaddaThe suit against

Posted on September 11, 2009
Yadda Yadda YaddaThe suit against Jerry Seinfeld's author wife, Jessica, has come to an end. The District Court dismissed all claims set forth by Missy Chase Lapine; however, there apparently is still the matter of the defamation claims stemming from Jerry Seinfeld's remarks on the David Letterman show...

New McRulingIn Malaysia, local

Posted on September 10, 2009
New McRulingIn Malaysia, local restauranteurs McCurry won an 8 year legal battle against McDonald's for the right to use the Mc- prefix. The McReign of McDonald's seems to be nearing an end as long as other restaurants serve food that is different enough from McDonald's so as not to confuse customers...

Trademark International Class:

Posted on August 26, 2009
Trademark International Class: Classes 32 & 33 (Light beverages; Wines and spirits) All goods or services are categorized within International Classes (IC hereafter). Goods run from classes IC 1-34, while Services are in IC 35-45. Please see a complete chart here...

Retweet ThisLast Thursday, Twitter

Posted on August 24, 2009
Retweet ThisLast Thursday, Twitter filed a Federal trademark application for RETWEET for three different classes. Take a look at the record here.What does this mean for the 4.9 million uses found online? Does this mean Twitter's going to start sending out please-stop-using-our-trademark-as-a-verb letters a la Google?

Trademark International Class:

Posted on August 18, 2009
Trademark International Class: Classes 29, 30 & 31(Meats & processed foods; Staple Foods; Natural agricultural products)All goods or services are categorized within International Classes (IC hereafter). Goods run from classes IC 1-34, while Services are in IC 35-45...

Trademark International Class:

Posted on August 10, 2009
Trademark International Class: Class 28 (Toys and sporting goods)All goods or services are categorized within International Classes (IC hereafter). Goods run from classes IC 1-34, while Services are in IC 35-45. Please see a complete chart here. Let's take a closer look at one of these trademark classes ? class 28...

Gonna Keep Going Looking over

Posted on August 05, 2009
Gonna Keep Going Looking over the blog's stats I can tell that all the different international classification posts have been fairly popular. Given that, I'm going to keep on keeping on.I wanted to give my readers a quick summary of the different classes I'll cover as well as any respective issues...

The House of Mouse is at it AgainAnd

Posted on July 31, 2009
The House of Mouse is at it AgainAnd boy have they been busy bees...or er, mice? Disney filed 10 applications on June 24th for Mickey By... for a whole mess of products: toys, clothing, textiles, linens, fabrics, housewares, furniture, pillows, photo frames, bags, backpacks, luggage, books, publications, printed materials, jewelry, audio & video recordings, video games, cosmetics, fragrances...

Trademark International Class:

Posted on July 28, 2009
Trademark International Class: Class 25 (Clothing) All goods or services are categorized within International Classes (IC hereafter). Goods run from classes IC 1-34, while Services are in IC 35-45. Please see a complete chart here. Let's take a closer look at one of these trademark classes ? class 25...

Trademark International Class:

Posted on July 27, 2009
Trademark International Class: Class 18 (Leather goods) All goods or services are categorized within International Classes (IC hereafter). Goods run from classes IC 1-34, while Services are in IC 35-45. Please see a complete chart here. Let's take a closer look at one of these trademark classes ? class 18...

Trademark International Class:

Posted on July 16, 2009
Trademark International Class: Class 16 (Paper goods and printed matter)All goods or services are categorized within International Classes (IC hereafter). Goods run from classes IC 1-34, while Services are in IC 35-45. Please see a complete chart here...

Trademark International Class:

Posted on July 15, 2009
Trademark International Class: Class 9 (Electrical and Scientific Apparatus) All goods or services are categorized within International Classes (IC hereafter). Goods run from classes IC 1-34, while Services are in IC 35-45. Please see a complete chart here...

Any Requests?I've slowed down a

Posted on June 25, 2009
Any Requests?I've slowed down a bit in my blog posting lately because work is a bit busy. I fully intend to continue the International Classification train but I thought it'd be a good idea to devote a post for requests.Are there any of the trademark classes you'd like to know more about? If so, please comment with any questions...

Trademark International Class:Class

Posted on June 18, 2009
Trademark International Class:Class 5 (Pharmaceuticals) All goods or services are categorized within International Classes (IC hereafter). Goods run from classes IC 1-34, while Services are in IC 35-45. Please see a complete chart here. Let's take a closer look at one of these trademark classes ? class 5...

Explanation of the Trademark International

Posted on June 17, 2009
Explanation of the Trademark International Classification System Filing a name, logo or slogan is not all about the mark itself but also what you're doing with it, i.e. your goods and/or services. All goods or services are categorized within International Classes (IC hereafter)...

Coca-Cola: Two New TrademarksCoca-Cola

Posted on June 16, 2009
Coca-Cola: Two New TrademarksCoca-Cola filed 2 new trademarks this month. Let's take a look at both:On June 8th, a name and logo was filed for bottles, waters, juices, soft drinks, energy drinks and most interesting, for educational services. The design is pretty neat and gives us some clues about the line...

Facebook Getting into the Trademark

Posted on June 10, 2009
Facebook Getting into the Trademark GameJonathan Handel wrote an informative piece about Facebook's new User Name Rights policy. Check it out at The Huffington Post here.To register your trademark with Facebook, click here. Be sure to have your registration number handy...

Swine Flu in the Trademark WorldThe

Posted on June 09, 2009
Swine Flu in the Trademark WorldThe swine flu is still making news around the world. Any hot button topic in the news is, more often than not, quickly followed by trademarks. Check out these H1N1-tinged filings:On May 27th, this logo was filed for a t-shirt lineSixteen days earlier, this mark was filed, also for clothing, though I can say right now the USPTO is going to take issue with the wording in the goods description area...

NameMedia Partners with TradeMark

Posted on June 07, 2009
NameMedia Partners with TradeMark ExpressWe here at TradeMark Express are pleased and excited to be offering premium domains through BuyDomain's premium domain name inventory. Check it out here. Read the press release at NameMedia's site here.- Mention our blog & receive $25 off of our Premium Package -- Put BLOG in the Contact Name field -

Here Comes a New FontOn June 1st,

Posted on June 03, 2009
Here Comes a New FontOn June 1st, Apple filed a Federal trademark for Menlo in International Class 9, specifically for "typeface fonts recorded on computer software." Typography fans are sure to be all over this whenever Apple decides to premiere it...

Filing a Trademark: Plain Text

Posted on June 02, 2009
Filing a Trademark: Plain Text vs Stylized/LogoWhen filing a trademark, the USPTO gives you two options: Standard Characters or Specialized Form (Stylized and/or Design). Let's look at each one in detail and that should help you decide the best way to file for your mark...

Trademark a Name and Logo: Together

Posted on June 01, 2009
Trademark a Name and Logo: Together or Separate? Trademarks can be names of products or services, logos, slogans, packaging and even sounds and smells. In essence, a trademark can be almost anything that is used to identify a particular product or service...

Copyright a Logo When deciding

Posted on May 27, 2009
Copyright a Logo When deciding to protect your logo or design it can be a bit confusing trying to decide how to protect it. After all, your logo is basically the face of your product line or your services so it makes sense that you'd want to do the right thing when it comes to ensuring that you have exclusive rights to it...

Recovery Project Logos Revealed

Posted on March 20, 2009
Recovery Project Logos Revealed What do you guys think? What do you like? Dislike?

Specimens of Use for TrademarksI?ve

Posted on March 12, 2009
Specimens of Use for TrademarksI?ve detailed the concept of specimens before but it?s a good idea to get into details about specimens as they apply to trademarks.The simplest explanation is that the USPTO wants something that clearly shows the mark (i...

What is NOT a Trademark? Now that

Posted on March 10, 2009
What is NOT a Trademark? Now that we?ve determined what a trademark is, let?s get into more detail about what a trademark is not. Here are just a couple of examples. If there's something that you're not sure can be protected by a trademark, shoot me a line: Shannon@tmexpress...

Posted on March 05, 2009

The Change Message President Barack

Posted on January 30, 2009
The Change Message President Barack Obama's message of change has been a constant since he announced his candidacy on the steps of the Old State Capitol building in Springfield, IL. And on January 20, 2009 a huge change in the face of politics happened...

Specimens of Use for Service Marks

Posted on January 29, 2009
Specimens of Use for Service Marks I?ve detailed the concept of specimens before but it?s a good idea to get into details about specimens as they apply to service marks. The simplest explanation is that the USPTO wants something that clearly shows the mark (i...

What is NOT a Service Mark? Now

Posted on January 28, 2009
What is NOT a Service Mark? Now that we?ve determined what a service mark is, let?s get into more detail about what a service mark is not. There are 5 examples the USPTO provides and it?s my guess that these are often filed for accidentally. I know at TradeMark Express we?ve received questions about all 5 of these ?services...

What is a Service Mark? While

Posted on January 27, 2009
What is a Service Mark? While the USPTO does use the term trademark to denote businesses offering goods or services, there is a distinction between a trademark and a service mark. To be clear, there is no difference between trademarks or service marks when it comes to needing comprehensive research or filing a Federal application...

Guess the Logos, part 2 Okay,

Posted on January 26, 2009
Guess the Logos, part 2 Okay, so I think I made Friday's test a bit too hard. Let's try this again. Guesses go in the comments section.The first person to guess all 7 receives $50 off of our Premium Package.

Guess the LogosHere's a fun to-do

Posted on January 23, 2009
Guess the LogosHere's a fun to-do for Friday. The following image is an amalgamation of six famous logos. Can you guess them all? Answer in the comments.Anyone that gets all 6 receives $100 off of our Premium Package!

Current Filing Fees at the USPTOThere's

Posted on January 08, 2009
Current Filing Fees at the USPTOThere's a number of forms and fees that must be filed in order to keep & maintain your trademark. It's advised that you keep yourself up to date on these fees during the life of your trademark. Prior to filing a necessary form, check this link to ensure that you'll have the necessary funds in time...

How to do an Effective Preliminary

Posted on August 18, 2008
How to do an Effective Preliminary Trademark SearchBefore filing for a trademark, comprehensive research is needed to ensure that the name you want to use is legally available. This entails searching the pending & registered Federal and State trademark files as well as the US National Common-Law files...

What does a USPTO Search Look Like?When

Posted on August 07, 2008
What does a USPTO Search Look Like?When an applicant submits a Federal trademark application, there is a timeline that's followed. Anywhere from 4-7 months after filing, the USPTO will conduct a search of their own records to look for any marks that may be conflicting to yours...

The Problem with the USPTO: Flaw

Posted on July 23, 2008
The Problem with the USPTO: Flaw #1 ? Sound The USPTO offers a fantastic free resource for potential trademark owners ? the ability to search the Feeral trademark files for free. To get started, go here and click on the Search link that's located in the right-hand column...

What does it take to get a Filing

Posted on June 13, 2008
What does it take to get a Filing Date? There are a variety of different dates for any given Federal trademark application ? filing date, status date, publication date, first use date, first use in commerce date and registration date. I'll devote a few posts to each one...

Unsolicited Trademark Mailings:

Posted on June 10, 2008
Unsolicited Trademark Mailings: A Warning from INTA When TradeMark Express started preparing and submitting Federal trademark applications for clients, we heard almost immediately about official-looking mailings they received requesting more money to either monitor their mark or to be listed in a "trademark registration directory...

Breaking Down the CodeLast month

Posted on June 09, 2008
Breaking Down the CodeLast month we took a quick look at how to conduct a logo search at the USPTO. This month let's look closer at the USPTO Design Code Manual.All designs have a 6-digit code, which the USPTO assigns to each filed design. The design search code system is very Dewey Decimal-esque in that each 2-digit section denotes a specific category...

Starting a Business in FloridaVisit

Posted on May 14, 2008
Starting a Business in FloridaVisit the Department of State's Starting a Business page. The Small Business Development Center is also a great resource.1) Write a business plan Here are a couple of posts I've devoted to this subject - Business Plans: A Quick Guide and Piecing Together the Business Plan...

It's Graph Time Again! As promised

Posted on May 07, 2008
It's Graph Time Again! As promised in this post, I'm revisiting the USPTO's Performance & Accountability Report. I decided to take a look at the highest number of applications filed based on state residency. Here are the top 6 out of the 310,296 applications filed by residents of the US:Now let's take a look at these same states to see how many made it to registration...

TradeMark Express Value Package

Posted on May 02, 2008
TradeMark Express Value Package We've added a new option when it comes to getting your trademark. TradeMark Express will search your mark in the pending & registered Federal and State trademark files AND in the US National Common-Law files. Based on your approval, we will then prepare AND file your US Federal trademark application - all for one fee of $399...

Starting a Business in California

Posted on April 22, 2008
Starting a Business in California When starting a business in California, start your research at these two sites: The California Business Portal & The Secretary of State's Starting a Business page.On the SOS' page, you'll see the Secretary of State details 5 recommended steps: 1) Write a business plan Here are a couple of posts I've devoted to this subject - Business Plans: A Quick Guide and Piecing Together the Business Plan...

Fun With Graphs Every year the

Posted on April 21, 2008
Fun With Graphs Every year the USPTO publishes an online Performance and Accountability Report, which contains some pretty interesting statistics about patents & trademarks. I used this site to create a couple of graphs to provide a visual on these stats...

Starting a Business in... Being

Posted on April 18, 2008
Starting a Business in... Being in the trademark biz, we get a lot of questions from folks about starting their own business in their state of residence. Admittedly, I don't know a lot of the ins & outs required for each state. I think it's high time I educated myself...

Logo Search: Trudging through the

Posted on April 15, 2008
Logo Search: Trudging through the USPTOSearching for designs on the USPTO site is a bit tricky. I'll explain it step by step.First, go to this link. This is the searchable design search code manual. Type in simple keywords that describe your logo. For instance, typing in telephone brings up the 6-digit codes for telephones, telephone poles, answering machines, etc...

Copyrights & Trademarks: Do

Posted on April 04, 2008
Copyrights & Trademarks: Do You Need Both? Protecting the intellectual property aspects of your business is a worthwhile investment. However, it is difficult to know what form of intellectual property works for what facets of your business. Let's take the time to break all that down...

Small Business Trademarks: Who

Posted on April 03, 2008
Small Business Trademarks: Who Needs 'Em? Anyone that's started a small business or is in the throes of starting a small business knows how overwhelming it can be just to get to opening day. You've got licenses & permits to think about, what sort of business entity structure is right, where the money is going to come from, and on and on...

US Patent & Trademark Office:

Posted on April 02, 2008
US Patent & Trademark Office: Navigating the Web Site Anyone that's had to slog through a governmental web site knows how confusing it can be at times. That being said, let's take a virtual walk together through the web site of the US Patent & Trademark Office...

Viva Las Vegas Photo SourceI've

Posted on March 20, 2008
Viva Las Vegas Photo SourceI've got Vegas on the brain as I'll be heading out that way tomorrow. As a result, the blog posts won't be happening again until next week when I come back, hopefully with a little more jingle jangle in my pockets. So I thought I'd use Las Vegas as an inspiration point to check out some of the more interesting Vegas-tinged trademarks:Dave's Fabulous Las Vegas Barbecue Sauce...

Refusal on Basis of Ornamentation

Posted on March 18, 2008
Refusal on Basis of Ornamentation I've devoted a few posts to the subject of trademarks and clothing lines but it wasn't until I was talking with a client yesterday that I realized I had answered the what but not the why.I was explaining to the client that submitting a picture of a t-shirt with his clothing line name on the front would not suffice as proof of use for the USPTO...

How Slow Can the PTO Go?I had intended

Posted on March 17, 2008
How Slow Can the PTO Go?I had intended the post for today to be a follow-up to these 2 posts:O Romeo, Romeo & When Applications Go Wrong.To sum up, these posts were about potential problems for the applications of Romeo & for La Bella Bella Maternity...

McCain Winning '08 Presidential

Posted on March 10, 2008
McCain Winning '08 Presidential Trademark Race The presidential race is heating up and with any flurry of political activity comes an influx of trademarks hoping to capitalize on the nation's interest.John McCain 2008 - The Exploratory Committee currently has two Federal trademarks, one registered & one pending, for "McCain Space" and "McCain...

Trademark vs. Service Mark Simply

Posted on March 05, 2008
Trademark vs. Service Mark Simply put, trademarks are for goods while service marks are for services. When discussing either, it is common to use the term "trademark", even when discussing a service use, because the handling of either is interchangeable by both the USPTO and all 50 Secretary of State Offices...

Likelihood of Confusion: Sound

Posted on January 29, 2008
Likelihood of Confusion: Sound When filing for a Federal trademark, it's important to keep the SAM rule in mind. Who's SAM? SAM's not a person but a concept employed by the USPTO during their review process of new Federal trademark applications.The USPTO will refuse registration "if the marks are similar and the goods and or services related...

O Romeo, Romeo Picking up from

Posted on January 25, 2008
O Romeo, Romeo Picking up from yesterday's post, I thought it'd be a good idea to show how truly important comprehensive research is BEFORE filing for a trademark. On January 17th, Mr. Percy Miller filed an intent to use application for ROMEO for clothing...

What Happened at the USPTO on...Christmas?58

Posted on January 23, 2008
What Happened at the USPTO on...Christmas?58 new filings on XmasNew Year's Eve?562 -- seems folks were staying inand on New Year's Day?55 -- and were taking it easyThese 3 snapshots make a great point: trademarks don't take a day off. Even on holidays, folks out there are filing for trademarks...

Hear Ye, Hear Ye - Come One, Come

Posted on January 22, 2008
Hear Ye, Hear Ye - Come One, Come All! As a big THANK YOU to our blog readers, TradeMark Express is offering a never-ending, no limit, discount off of our package deal. Simply call any of our offices and when placing your order mention that you read the blog & we'll take $50 off of our package price...

What's the Point of Getting a Federal

Posted on January 16, 2008
What's the Point of Getting a Federal Trademark?After reading about Common-Law, you're probably wondering why you'd even be interested in getting a Federal Trademark for your name. Well, let's break down the key reasons as provided by the USPTO. 1) Constructive notice nationwide of the trademark owner's claimEssentially, this means that no other party will have the right to use the same or confusingly similar name throughout the US...

What Is Common-Law? Most often

Posted on January 14, 2008
What Is Common-Law? Most often when one hears the term Common-Law, it's in reference to marriage. If that's what you're looking for, go here. Otherwise, keep on reading.First, let's start with the USPTO's definition:"Common law rights arise from actual use of a mark...

"The Name Game" Our pal, Phil

Posted on January 07, 2008
"The Name Game" Our pal, Phil Davis, of Tungsten Branding just announced his "informational naming/branding show" available on VoiceAmerica. Phil's been a colleague for a few years now & I'm always happy to endorse anything he does.Here are the details: "If you've ever had questions or concerns about your company's branding efforts, be sure to tune in each Tuesday, beginning January 8th on VoiceAmerica...

Happy HolidaysWe'll be back bigger

Posted on December 20, 2007
Happy HolidaysWe'll be back bigger & better than ever for the New Year.Happy Holidays to you all!

These are not the Government Offices

Posted on December 05, 2007
These are not the Government Offices You're Looking For...Move AlongThe Trademark Blog has posted a pretty comprehensive list of private companies that send out official looking documents to new trademark applicants. Every new trademark applicant should know that any & all correspondence to be paid attention to will be coming from the USPTO, the US Patent & Trademark Office and nowhere else...

Jackpot! Gambling Themed Trademarks

Posted on November 30, 2007
Jackpot! Gambling Themed Trademarks The Masters are coming to a casino near you or so I assume based on the 3 newest filings from High 5 Games for gaming machines: MatisseRenoirVan Gogh Hasselhoff doesn't want to be hassled, as we all have heard, but he'll probably be fine with you feeding some quarters into the Don't Hassel the Hoff slot machine.

Trademark Application Timeline,

Posted on November 27, 2007
Trademark Application Timeline, Take One I spent a few posts detailing the various pieces of virtual paper it takes to get and keep a trademark this week. But I thought it'd be a good idea to detail a timeline of the trademark application process. Federal Trademark Application Timeline, In Use Application Step 1: File Assuming you've had all your comprehensive research completed & the name is clear, the first step is to file the application...

Statement of Use/Amendment to Allege

Posted on November 26, 2007
Statement of Use/Amendment to Allege Use for Intent-to-Use ApplicationPicking up from yesterday's post, let's get further into the additional forms attached to filing an Intent to Use application.Once the Intent to Use application is filed, the USPTO will move ahead with the filing process as normal but once all the various red tape has been cut, they will need to hear from you that you're using the mark in commerce...

What You Don't Want to See Picking

Posted on November 14, 2007
What You Don't Want to See Picking up from Friday's post, let's look at more definitions from the USPTO, specifically, the statuses you DON'T want to see on your application. * Abandonment: "An application that has been declared abandoned is 'dead' and no longer pending...

How to Trademark Your Clothing

Posted on November 05, 2007
How to Trademark Your Clothing LineAs promised in this post, I'll explore what's acceptable as a specimen as it pertains to clothing.When it comes to clothing, the best thing to send to the USPTO is either a tag or a label. This makes it clear that the name and/or logo is being used for a clothing line...

A lot of us here at TradeMark Express

Posted on October 25, 2007
A lot of us here at TradeMark Express have loved ones in Southern California & with all that's going on down there, well, talking about trademarks doesn't feel too important this week.However, I did want to take advantage of this forum & share some links offering further information...

Specimens: Not Just for Guys in

Posted on October 18, 2007
Specimens: Not Just for Guys in White Coats AnymorePicking up where we left off on Tuesday, I think it'd be a good idea to start with, well, starting. I recommend anyone looking into starting a clothing line to check out PowerHomeBiz's article about that very subject...

Trademark Your Clothing Line Easily

Posted on October 16, 2007
Trademark Your Clothing Line Easily one of the biggest industries we serve over at TradeMark Express is the clothing industry. Because of that, I thought it was high time to devote a few posts to the different facets of filing for a trademark for your clothing line...

Intellectual Property NewsTrademarksGigantic

Posted on October 05, 2007
Intellectual Property NewsTrademarksGigantic Goes After MDC's We Are Gigantic For Trademark InfringementWhy Two Museums Are Now Going at It Hammer and TongsCopyrightsU.S. Appeals Court Hears Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against BeyonceRIAA Awarded $222,000 from First Individual Copyright Infringment TrialPatentsCourt seems to favor TiVo in patent battleU...

How to Protect Your Great Idea

Posted on October 04, 2007
How to Protect Your Great Idea It is not possible to protect ideas but rather the representation of that idea. To protect an original invention OR a significant improvement to an existing product, a patent would be filed. Click here for the USPTO's definition...

Any Sims � Fans Out There?Looks

Posted on October 02, 2007
Any Sims � Fans Out There?Looks like we'll have yet another expansion pack to look forward to - The Sims Carnival.Electronic Arts � has filed a Federal trademark application with the USPTO for what looks to be the seventh expansion pack in the popular series...

Exciting Changes at TradeMark ExpressThere

Posted on September 28, 2007
Exciting Changes at TradeMark ExpressThere have been a number of changes at TradeMark Express lately that I wanted to take this opportunity to detail them here for our blog readers. First, we dropped our fees $50 on August 14th from $600 to $550. This is our first price reduction in 15 years! I want to reassure our clients & potential clients that a price drop does not mean a drop in services by any means...

What is a Trademark Conflict?What

Posted on September 27, 2007
What is a Trademark Conflict?What is a Trademark Similarity? Comprehensive trademark research consists of several layers: Researching comprehensive databases, such as Lexis-Nexis or Dialog Looking for similarities, such as synonyms, word placement & spelling variations Consultation with a trademark attorney if Conflicts or Strong Similarities arise The hardest matter to determine is what's going to be a potential problem for you and what isn't...