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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
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    65

    Trademarking your business name

    I am looking to trademark my business name and would like some insight into doing this. How much is it? What companies can do it and do not charge an overly large ammount? Etc. Any and all feedback is appreciated on this topic. The difference between that and copyright isn't necessarily the clearest thing either though I believe I understand it on a basic level. Thanks.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Downers Grove, IL
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    174
    The way I understand the difference is: Copyright protects your work, something like a book, a computer program, or a piece of art. Trademarks protect your name and slogans.

    I also know that Copyright is easy to register and can be done for a small fee. I don't know much about Trademarks, but what I can recall is that they're more expensive to register, and you're probably best off talking to a lawyer about it.

  3. #3
    Hmm this is complicated.

    What happens when someone uses your name in another country for another webhost?

    What happens if they spell it differently but sounds the same - IE Mycrowsoft?

    How do you plan to enforce it?

    In the UK you can trademark a name but then someone in the USA can use the same name and there's not a damn thing you can do about it.

    The best and only way to save yourself the agro is to use "company name" + Domain extension.
    EG IF your company is called mycompany and you have the domain mycompany.com then simply rename your company to mycompany.com

    Who else will then copy your name and advertise YOUR site? - No-one because they won't get the visitors!

    Once upon a time when I started in the hosting biz (on attempt number 1) I found someone using a domain similar to mine and thought I had a valid arguement. Now I realise how stupid I was and that probably caused my domain more harm than good. If you search for my username on this site you'll find the topic no doubt.

    -Turboz

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Posts
    311
    When trademarks (if done via outsourced companies), there are options you can select which makes your trademark globally known. It can, however, cost somewhere in the region of £5k to do, but, if you have a great brand, its worth it!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2000
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    233
    We simply went with a local lawyer that specializes in trademark registrations. Our overall costs for this service amounted to about $1200. It also took two years for the process to get completed. It's worth it if you want to protect your name and keep it for the long-term.
    IceStorm.com - Top Provider of Web Hosting, Reseller Hosting, and Cloud VPS Plans.
    Why IceStorm? Two Words: Proven Reliability.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Earth
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    463
    We did it ourselves and it cost about $350.00 + $200 for a company to do a similar name search, which in retrospect, we should have saved the $200 and not did the search. Of course we spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to do it and if we were busy probably would have paid someone to do it like icestorm did. Ain't no such thing as a free lunch. Either pay someone or spend your time, it comes out to about the same.

    This was for a national trademark in the US.

    Unless you plan on doing a lot of branding and taking it to a national level its probably not worth it.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    65
    Originally posted by WebGuyz


    Unless you plan on doing a lot of branding and taking it to a national level its probably not worth it.
    I plan to and my services will not be specifally just web hosting. Any online type of services that anyone recommends?

  8. #8

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Posts
    1,053
    Originally posted by icestorm
    We simply went with a local lawyer that specializes in trademark registrations. Our overall costs for this service amounted to about $1200. It also took two years for the process to get completed. It's worth it if you want to protect your name and keep it for the long-term.
    Two years seems kind of long for this process...

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2000
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    233
    Originally posted by Josh Stein
    Two years seems kind of long for this process...
    Actually, our lawyer was preparing us that it could take longer! We were happy that it was all done in two years.

    I think it depends on your name. If the name you're registering is very unique or uncommon, the trademark submission could be completed quicker. The process is not as straightforward as registering a simple domain name, which was why we hired a lawyer to do it right.
    IceStorm.com - Top Provider of Web Hosting, Reseller Hosting, and Cloud VPS Plans.
    Why IceStorm? Two Words: Proven Reliability.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Posts
    65
    Thank you for the information and help guys. This trully is one of the most helpful communities I've ever been a part of. I am more of a lurker than anything but when I do ask for some information, it comes piling in. Thanks again.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    San Jose, CA.
    Posts
    1,624
    Two years is nothing unusual. I would expect at LEAST 10 months.

    "It is difficult to predict how long it will take for an application to mature into a registration, because there are so many factors that can affect the process. Generally, an applicant will receive a filing receipt approximately six months after filing. You should receive a response from the Office within six to seven months from filing the application. However, the total time for an application to be processed may be anywhere from almost a year to several years, depending on the basis for filing, and the legal issues which may arise in the examination of the application." -www.uspto.gov

    I would suggest going through a professional lawyer who you can speak with face to face and who you feel comfortable with that will do a decent job at "research".

    Searching for if your name is tradmarkable is a LOT more involved then just hitting http://www.uspto.gov and typing in a search field.

    Sure, you can do it yourself and save thousands of dollars. But, there's also a high probabiliity you can screw it up or not do enough research and simply waste hundreds or thousands of dollars having your applications rejected (also wasting years of time waiting for the response).

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
    Posts
    454
    in the US you can chose to trademark your name officially by registering it and displaying a ® next to the mark, this costs about 225.00, IIRC. Or you can put a ™ next to your mark for free. What this says is, to the public that you claim ownership of this mark. So long as you are making a public claim of ownership and you can verify that you had presence first there is no need to register, you can win case in court. Although, the safest route is to register it at the addresses rudedogg1989 listed. Have a look around at people's webistes and their marks.

    A ® means its registered, and must be displayed if it is, and a ™ is used if you simply claim ownership of the mark. You also list these marks with the IRS and the local government for your business license. IRS will put it in the system for state and national. The business license is really just local.

    Hope this helps a little bit.
    [color=#666666]Ackoo Solutions, LLC

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Minnesota
    Posts
    973
    It doesn't stop large corps from putting a "-" or some other change in the name and registering it for the same use even if you had first use.
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  15. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    NYC
    Posts
    120
    Originally posted by rudedogg1989
    http://www.uspto.gov/

    or

    http://www.uspto.gov/teas/index.html

    Thank me later
    You will thank him later. Search carefully to see if any other name that is 'close' to yours is trademarked. Otherwise you wait many months and then get rejected. This is one of the skills that lawyers get paid for but that you can do on your own if you think it out.
    Sam Elsamman
    http://www.sitemagix.com
    Advanced Site Builder Software for Web Hosts

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