Category: Legal/Accounting
How to Address Domain Name and USPTO Registrations that Interfere with Your Trademark
If one person attempts to register a trademark or domain name that is too similar to another person’s pre-existing registered trademark, there are two relatively efficient and inexpensive courses of action that can be used to either (i) compel a transfer of rights, or (ii) prevent the registration from being issued. As a refresher, improper [...]
Opportunity: eMinutes is Forming 500 Free Corporations for First-time Entrepreneurs
Every business needs to be incorporated to start but that process can also be costly and time consuming. So, when eMinutes reached out and said that they were doing 500 incorporation’s for free we just had to let our readers in on it. Below is more information on eMinutes, it’s founder Jeff Unger and this [...]
Lessons in Trademark Use from The Hangover: Part II
When luxury handbag maker Louis Vuitton sued Warner Bros. in late 2011 seeking possession of each and every copy of The Hangover: Part II, there no doubt were several commentators who dismissed the lawsuit out of hand, and probably accused Louis Vuitton of going too far in trying to police use of its famous “LV” [...]
What Happens When You Don’t Do Due Diligence on Your Trademark
Many – too many – entrepreneurs and business owners I encounter have the following mindset when it comes to adopting a new trademark: “There were no exact matches on the USPTO database and the .com domain name was available, and that’s good enough for me.” While that may all be true, it may or may [...]
Growing Up and Moving Your Business out of Your Parents Basement
You think of yourself as a young, successful entrepreneur. You’ve been adding infrastructure to your startup and religiously adding clients to your company’s roster. You’re considering hiring an intern or two to help with the workload. You’ve been happily chugging along on your project, all from the comfort of…your parents’ basement? Your startup may not have [...]
5 Tips for Crowdsourcing Your Next Launch
With the growing popularity of crowdsourcing and the government’s efforts (as they may be) with regard to regulation of crowdfunding platforms, you may be considering using crowdfunding to finance your next startup venture. I am an advocate for crowdfunding (and am co-developing a campaign to launch at the end of next month); however, as an [...]
How to Protect Your Brands and Content on the Web
When (not if) someone does something online that violates your intellectual property rights, there are three useful tools that can help you regain exclusivity and maintain control of your image on the web. These won’t work in all cases, but when they do, they are good, cheap alternatives to traditional litigation. Domain Names that Infringe [...]
5 Tips to Be Smart About Trademark Selection
With new startups starting up on a daily (if not hourly) basis, it is becoming more important now than ever to adopt a trademark that works to immediately distinguish your business from its competitors in the marketplace. Not only that, but you also must be careful to avoid adopting a trademark that infringes on someone [...]
Lessons in Trademark Protection from Beyoncé and Jay-Z
Celebrity babies are big business, there’s no question about that. This, coupled with Jay-Z’s demonstrated business acumen, makes it no surprise that Hova and Beyoncé filed just a few weeks ago to register “Blue Ivy Carter” as a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This would be enough to make headlines [...]
Why You Can’t Say “Super Bowl” (But I Can)
Usually this time of year you’ll see at least one or two stories about the big bad NFL supposedly overreaching to enforce its trademark rights in the term “Super Bowl”. The typical story goes something like this: Jack’s Retail Outlet was shocked and dismayed when it received a cease-and-desist letter from the NFL demanding that [...]
