299 - Trademarks
On today's episode of the podcast we're breaking down the ins and outs of trademarks.
We're covering how I got into trademarks, a new idea I've recently had and how it's been going, and then a short section from my book all about trademarks and finally, a few quick tips.
As of March of this year I've been doing trademarks in batches for clients. I take about five every other month schedule but I foresee this ramping up with my new offer. I've started doing Trademark Quickie Searches (Learn more here: www.bradendrake.com/offers/szLipL33/)
Filing for a trademark can be fairly complex if done right. When I started offering the Trademark Quickie Searches I had someone say, "don't you just go to the trademark website and search for free?" and the answer is yes, but that's equivalent to doing a Google search and expecting to synthesize the answer from a scan of the first page of results. When you do trademark searches, there are particular circumstances where you can find a registered trademark somewhat similar to your business name and if you're not a trademark expert you may not know how similar your trademark is to know if it will be approved. For example, it's not just spelling, it can be pronunciation, similar services, etc. so we use complex search formulas and there are expensive trademark attorney softwares.
For $30 you can get a Trademark Quickie search. Get on the waitlist (waitlist members get first dibs) at www.bradendrake.com/offers/szLipL33/
Now to dive into the trademark section of my book. Generally speaking the first person to use a trademark in the marketplace owns that mark and has general protection against those who use it. This is a default protection. We don't have to do anything, but registering for a trademark provides a whole list of benefits. Typically when we're talking about trademarks, we're talking about registered trademark.
To qualify to be registered, the name or logo must be unique enough to earn recognition on its own or have earned recognition over time. Likelihood of confusion is also important. If another mark is too similair to yours, you may be able to go to court over it if there's confusion. Identical marks can exist in the market.
It's important to note that an LLC name does not give you the same protection as a trademark. An LLC is a trade name, one we use for banking, billing, taxes, and other official services. For example, I am Braden Drake LLC but I have a trademark for Unf*ck Your Biz.
You can read more about trademarks in the book. Get your copy at unfuckyourbizbook.com
I recently had a client call and while I'll never give percentage odds to the likelihood of if you'll get a trademark, I do comment whether or not it may get approved. I told the client it may or may not and while they didn't want to risk that, I told them it's a huge asset to have a trademark if you ever want to go sell your company. I currently have a few clients who are currently buying, selling or planning to sell down the road. While you can sell without IP, it makes it way more appealing.
It's best to trademark early so that you don't find yourself five years down the road with an established brand struggling to get a trademark. I also recommend it if you plan to expand outside of your geographic area.
If you're a course creator, summit host, have a membership, etc. you want to get your names now. When I started doing searches for event-based business owner trademarks I really thought a lot more names were going to be saturated which means if you're in the event space there might be a lot more opportunity to own your name than you thought so it might be worthwhile to do a search after all.
Get on the waitlist and get your Quickie Search done for $30 at www.bradendrake.com/offers/szLipL33/
