Questions about trademark registration

[somunny]

I have a design that I would like to trademark in relation to a business name that I have registered but, after reading some of the material posted on the .gov site, it seems that it would be beneficial to do it through a lawyer rather than handling the submission myself.

Does anyone have some wisdom to impart regarding experiences with trademarks, whether registering them independently or through a lawyer?  Recommendations?  Things I could learn through your mistakes? 

Thanks,

Steve

[thebrownshow]

First thing you can do is slap a "TM" on the design somewhere.  Still means you want to protect it but it's not a REGISTERED trademark yet.

IANAL, but I think the real point in registering a trademark is that the government gives you the proof of who had it first in a dispute - you can say "I registered my trademark on such-and-such a date, when did you register yours?"  Whoever registered first wins.

Just in case, might want to print out that logo, sign it, and mail it to yourself.  That way, you've got a government postmark on there proving you at least had that design on that date.  Not sure how much that'll stand up in court, and certainly isn't as good as an actual registered trademark.

[Chris]

Just in case, might want to print out that logo, sign it, and mail it to yourself.  That way, you've got a government postmark on there proving you at least had that design on that date.  Not sure how much that'll stand up in court, and certainly isn't as good as an actual registered trademark.

That won't mean anything.  Trademarks are different from copyrights.  Trademarks have to actually be used in commerce, have to be registered in particular categories, etc.  There are several steps to the process including one where you have to prove the mark is being used commercially.  It's also a long process... takes a couple of years if I remember right.  Not cheap either; I seem to recall the forms, filings and fees ran to like a thousand dollars for each category registered in.  Last time I checked into it was 6 or 7 years ago when I had that trademark fight with Interplay. 

Get a trademark attorney. 

--Chris

[RayB]

Yep, part of the "deal" of registering a trademark is that you have to use it, or lose it. (Has to be that way, otherwise the Trademark office would have ended up just like the web domain business.)

Friend of mind registered a tradmark recently and it cost her $300.

[somunny]

Thanks for the replies on this.  After looking into it, I'm going to copyright the design I want to use as a logo.  It's a start.

Steve

[thebrownshow]

I'm going to copyright the design I want to use as a logo. 

I don't think that makes any sense.  Something is automatically copywritten (?) as soon as it's created.  The trick is proving that you're the creator.  For digital artwork, you should be ok if you have photoshop or illustrator files, etc.  Put a watermark into files.  Just protect yourself.