Trade mark research

Market Research

our competitors

Quater has found a studio to rent at the mill, 44 potternewton mount, west yorkshire

I had the job of finding out our competitors, and I found 3 design studios. Maximpact which is 9 minutes away, 

JDA which is 19mins away

and Box-Head* which is 18mins away

requirements for registering a trademark

Requirements for Registering a Trademark - Properly Preparing a Trademark Application

There are many requirements for registering a trademark which are all satisfied if the trademark application is properly prepared. The following are the requirements and steps to getting a trademark.

1. The first requirement for a proper trademark filing is the name and address of the applicant for correspondence;
   
2. Another necessity for registering a trademark is a properly formulated listing of the goods or services provided with the mark. Trademark assistance from a trademark lawyer is invaluable at this stage, for you want to draft to product description to reflect the product, but also use language that is different from a similar trademark to help you get a trademark;
   
3. Registering a trademark also requires that if the mark has been used, the date of first use anywhere in the world and the date of first use in interstate commerce (it is best to document and preserve evidence of your dates of first use);
   
4. The cost to register a trademark is $335 for each class of goods or services is also a prerequisite to register a trademark. The cost to register a trademark is a small fee compared to the many benefits of registering a trademark;
   
5. A final need for registering a trademark is that the applicant provides a clear drawing of the mark and a specimen of the trademark.

trademark attorney

Bruno W. Tarabichi, Esq.

Mr. Tarabichi received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in June of 2001.  Since December of 2001, Mr. Tarabichi has been a member in good standing of the State Bar of California, as well as licensed to practice before all courts in the state of California, including the Supreme Court of California and the United States District Courts for the Northern, Central, Eastern, and Southern Districts of California.

Mr. Tarabichi has over six years of focused experience in the field of trademark law.  In October of 2001 after receiving his J.D., Mr. Tarabichi joined Pennie & Edmonds LLP, a 200 attorney intellectual property boutique law firm with a long history of intellectual property expertise dating back to 1883 when the firm was founded.  Practicing in the trademark and copyright group in Pennie & Edmonds LLP’s Palo Alto, California office, Mr. Tarabichi managed large domestic and international trademark portfolios for various Fortune 500 companies, advising such companies on all aspects of the trademark lifecycle from the creation, clearance, and adoption of trademarks to the registration, maintenance, and enforcement of trademarks.  In addition, Mr. Tarabichi litigated a variety of trademark disputes both before United States federal district courts and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

In January of 2004, Mr. Tarabichi joined Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, a large, general practice firm with over 1,300 attorneys in 22 offices worldwide.  Practicing in the trademark group in the Palo Alto office, Mr. Tarabichi continued managing large domestic and international trademark portfolios and litigating trademark disputes.  In March of 2001, Mr. Tarabichi argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a rare appeal from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Envisioning a more efficient, cost-effective, and client-friendly approach to providing trademark legal services, Mr. Tarabichi co-founded the Trademark Sentinel service with Mr. Owens.  For a more detailed profile of Mr. Tarabichi’s background and legal experience, please view hiscomplete profile at Owens Tarabichi LLP.

David R. Owens, Esq.

Mr. Owens received his Juris Doctorate from Santa Clara University, a top-rated intellectual property law school, and is licensed to practice before all state and federal courts in the State of California.  Mr Owens is also a licensed patent attorney admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Mr. Owens has provided trademark legal services to large and small companies, as well as to start-up companies and individuals.  Mr. Owens has prosecuted trademark applications in both the U.S. and foreign countries for a wide variety of goods and services, including software, Internet-based applications, pharmaceuticals, green technology, and environmental and energy-related processes and equipment, as well as others.  Mr. Owens also works closely with his clients to develop trademark strategies for selecting and registering marks, making appropriate use of  marks and protecting those marks.  Mr. Owens has drafted and negotiated numerous trademark license and sale agreements, often as part of complex agreements that include other types of intellectual property, and has conducted trademark due diligence reviews in connection with the licensing or sale of large trademark portfolios.  He also provides legal opinions regarding trademark availability and infringement and litigates trademark infringement cases.

Prior to forming Owens Tarabichi LLP, Mr. Owens was a partner in the intellectual property group at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, a large general practice firm and a partner at Pennie & Edmonds LLP, a well-respected intellectual property boutique.  He also served as in-house intellectual property counsel for Electric Power Research Institute.  Mr. Owens has an M.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Texas and a B.A. in chemistry from Gettysburg College.  For a more detailed profile of Mr. Owens’ background and legal experience, please view hiscomplete profile at Owens Tarabichi LLP.

trademarking

Step One.

Ideally, you will want to make sure that your logo is available for your adoption and use. That is, you will want to make sure that no one else is already using your logo.  To do this, you will want to perform a trademark search. The trademark search will tell you whether someone else has already adopted the identical or a highly similar logo. If someone has already adopted your logo or a highly similar logo and you proceed to use your logo, you may be infringing on their trademark and may get sued for trademark infringement.  While you can try to perform your own trademark search either by searching the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s records or using a search company such as Thomson CompuMark, it is recommended to hire a trademark attorney who can not only conduct the search but who can better define the search criteria and who has the legal expertise to analyze the search results.

Step Two.

Once you have determined that no one else is using your logo, you will want to secure the trademark rights to your logo. There are essentially three ways that you can do this.

First, you can begin to acquire trademark rights just by using your logo in connection with your products or services. However, the rights you obtain just by using your logo are relatively limited as you only acquire rights in the geographic area in which you are using your logo.

Second, if you are only using your logo to do business within one state, then you can file an application to register your trademark with the Secretary of State’s office for your particular state. However, this will only provide you with trademark rights to your logo in that state.

The third way is to file a trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. If you are planning to do business in more than one state, then this is the way to go.  If your trademark application is approved (i.e., registered), it will provide you with trademark rights to your logo across the entire United States. Regardless of the method you choose, you would be wise to consult a trademark attorney to ensure that you are proceeding properly to ensure that you obtain the most protection possible, as trademark applications can be rather complicated and subject to esoteric procedures and rules.

Step Three.

After you have acquired trademark rights to your logo, you will likely want to protect it against the unauthorized adoption and use by third parties. This is known as enforcing your trademark rights. The best way to do this is to have a “trademark watch” in place. A trademark watch will alert you when third parties start using a logo that is too close to yours. You will then be able to decide whether you need to take action such as sending a cease and desist letter or instituting a trademark infringement lawsuit. You can order a trademark watch yourself through companies such as Thomson CompuMark, but it is probably wiser to hire an attorney to put the watch in place as the attorney will have the expertise to advise you when it makes sense to object to another party’s use of a particular logo.

If you follow the above steps, you should successfully legally protect and enforce your trademark rights in your logo.

trademark and copyright research

What Is Copyright?

AIGA, the professional association for design, defines copyright as:

“The exclusive right to control reproduction and commercial exploitation of your creative work. Copyright protects any kind of artwork, including illustrations, photographs and graphic design. Except under certain circumstances (see “work made for hire” section), you own the copyright in your work at the moment you create it in a “fixed form of expression.” A fixed form of expression is any tangible medium that can be perceived by humans, including traditional forms—such as paintings, sculptures, writings—and new forms that require a machine to perceive (e.g., GIF files, CDs, websites).

Source: AIGA Copyright Basics For Graphic Designers

I am not going to go into the basics of copyright here, as you can read about that in the link above but I would like to bring up some areas worthy of discussion…

Copyright Laws In Logo Design

Based on the definition given by AIGA above, you own the copyright of your own design once “you create it in a “fixed” form of expression” but the question is where can you draw this line?

For example, say I am going to design a logotype (ie. a logo that is made out of a typeface only)… this means I will have to use a typeface designed by another designer. Assuming I have paid for the license of that particular typeface, does this give me exclusive rights to change / alter the typeface and then resell it onto a client?

The closest answer I came across was found in this article titled Can We Use Fonts In Logo Design? by Mark Moulton, of the Graphic Artists Guild.

It is true that the USA Copyright Office does not copyright typeface design. However, that does not mean that typeface does not have some restrictions. Specifically in the Copyright Ruling of 1988 it says regarding typefaces: “Useful articles are not protected except to the extent the articles contain artistic features capable of existing separately and independently of the overall utilitarian shape. Variations of typographic ornamentation [or] “mere lettering” are not copyrightable.”

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