We'll be launching something new soon. Well, new to us. :)
We have what we believe a great slogan, tag line, whatever you want to call it.
We want to launch before getting it trademarked.

Would just including (tm) or something similar be enough protection?
Or, should we wait until we have 'real' protection before we even introduce it?

If the person was smart they wouldn't take (tm) as a sure trademark. However, what is this slogan you want to trademark? Piece of advice from my experience: If you think of something really good and catchy, chances are someone already has it ;)

Including (tm) should be sufficient; it denotes "this is an unregistered trademark".

Of course, this only applies if it is possible to trademark the phrase in question -- if someone else has already trademarked it, or if the phrase is considered "generic" then the trademark claim will have no effect.

Would just including (tm) or something similar be enough protection?

Yes. This is what almost everyone does now days anyway. It is basically just making a claim to your name or slogan, stating it is trademarked. It basically is a temporary mark [along with (sm)] until it is officially registered and allowed to use the (R). To me, it is like the (C) now. How many people really paid the cash to officially copyright?

The bottom line with trademarking is who was first to use.


PS - Dennis, I am not a laywer. So take it with a grain of salt. :)

Originally posted by UmBillyCord
. . . . . . So take it with a grain of salt. :) :cartman: I would; but I fell down and have some open wounds. :eek: Just sounds rather painful.

But, yeh; I always thought it was like you and cperciva explained.
We fully intend to register it though.
Well, provided it isn't in use already.
I've never seen it before. But, there's lots I ain't seen. :)

Greetings:

Please talk with your lawyer. There are steps that must be done, and if you don't do them correctly then you loose out.

Thank you.

We fully intend to register it though.

We have done three of these now and have 5 more on the way. Depedning on your lawyer, it can take 6 months to 2 years. Ours took 1 1/2 years to go throught the process. I really feel it is worth it in the end if you are trying to establish something larger for the future. Plus the (R) looks cool. :)

Okay. :)

So it's Off to the Lawyer we shall go.

Where should I look first to make certain it isn't trademarked already?

http://www.nameprotect.com/cgi-bin/FREEsearch/search.cgi

This is a quick way. And of course there is always the source -

http://www.uspto.gov/

http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm

$325. Can do it online, but there are specifications you have to follow.

For instance, using ALL CAPS when registering a name without an accompanying mark. And the Internet isn't "the Internet". It's a "global information distribution network."

I bought a book and also looked at information for an existing mark for a similar use and mimicked it.

It was interesting to note that Yahoo was unable to trademark "HotJobs" and eBay was unable to trademark "elance".

Granted, they're names, not slogans, but I thought I'd share.

This is an old suggestion that was given to me a while back, I don't know if there is any legal validity to it, but here goes anyway :)

Write down the slogan, seal it in an envelope, and mail it to yourself. The postmark supposedly is sufficient evidence enough if someone infringes on your trademarked slogan and you can prove that you had yours first.

Of course, this could just be a bunch of garbage; but it sounds pretty right.

Okay. I went to http://www.nameprotect.com/cgi-bin/FREEsearch/search.cgi and looked up what I'd been thinking about since last November.

What I had been thinking about was a short, three word phrase.

To my dismay; it, in part, was just registered last December.

But it was registered as part of a six word phrase.

Can I still proceed?

interesting thread this!

Write down the slogan, seal it in an envelope, and mail it to yourself. The postmark supposedly is sufficient evidence enough if someone infringes on your trademarked slogan and you can prove that you had yours first.

I think this works for (c) but not sure about (tm). You still have to prove that you have not tampered with the envolope so may not be the easiest thing to prove, you could always post it to your lawyer or bank to look after.

I'm not familiar with federal trademark law but would like to add that the state where I live (Washington) accepts trademark registration, and I've registered a number of trademarks at the state level along with my business license. Although they're not officially trademarked at the federal level, it's on Washington state paper that they exist at a certain date, which would at least prove first use.