-
Obtaining trademark registrations to protect important aspects of your business's image is important. This article aims to make the process of obtaining these registrations easier and the registrations you ultimately get more effective by...
-
There are a plethora of legal-appearing symbols which one can use in connection with brand names. This article helps business owners understand what each symbol means and when each can be properly used. The symbols so distinguished in...
-
This article provides advice on some of the fundamentals of trademark selection by detailing ten tips to bear in mind when selecting a trademark. As it details, trademark selection done well is part of your overall strategy; the article...
-
This article reviews lessons from The Hangover: Part II which get to the core of what is meant when an attorney or brand manager complains about "trademark dilution." The article itself lays the foundations for the two main lessons which...
-
When embarking on a branding campaign for your business, this article suggests that you keep five trademark tips in mind; these trademark tips can strengthen the brand which results from such a campaign. The tips contained in this article...
-
This article explains that trademark (and brand) selection isn't as simple as just picking a name which nobody else is using, or for which the corresponding .com domain name is unclaimed. Because the standard for trademark infringement is...
-
Trademarks are an essential ingredient of what a franchisor sells and, therefore, maintaining the strength of their trademarks is crucial for franchisors to make money and build their franchise system. This article reviews two recent cases...
-
If you have a competitor with a strong brand and both of your businesses rely heavily on web traffic to generate business and/or create customers, then bidding on that competitor's trademarks on Google's AdWords can seem like a win-win for your...
-
This article represents an IP attorney's advice to companies who choose to take advantage of crowdsourced-based platforms (most prominent in the news being crowdfunding platforms). The article provides five tips...
-
Trademark and copyright infringement can be either intentional or unwitting. However, it is a reality of running a business today. This article explains how business owners can monitor for infringement of their intellectual property and...
-
The internet has a reputation (often deserved) of being something of a Wild West when it comes to intellectual property rights. This article examines how you, as a business owner, can protect your valuable intellectual property from malfeasance...
-
Trademark attorneys and careful businesspeople extol the benefits of trademark monitoring; this article attempts to put these benefits in terms more relatable to your business by sharing four examples of recent, based-on-real-life cases where...
-
A common theme among proponents of brand protection strategies is that doing so allows you to keep people from infringing your trademarks. This raises the obvious question--what constitutes trademark infringement? This article answers...
-
Federal trademark registration is a way to protect your exclusive right to use the significant marks of the brand you are diligently and painstakingly building. However, as this article explains, obtaining this registration is the beginning of...
-
This article provides five tips to help business owners in an important task for their business's future--that of trademark selection. The article's five tips relate to ensuring that you will have rights over the mark you select, protecting...
-
This article examines four trademark disputes which have made headlines recently. The disputes profiled by this article involve Jeremy Lin, the use of iPad in China, Apple against a British app developer called Wapple and a handbag maker's...
-
One of the requirements of being a franchisor is an annual update of their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD). This article notes that this requirement is at hand for many franchisors, and explains what this obligation means for both current...
-
Brand monitoring is essential for any business. This article notes that failure to monitor your brands is at the root of long, expensive trademark infringement litigation. To illustrate this, the article spins two very plausible, simple...
-
One of the most disturbing features of the Stop Online Piracy Act was the way it allowed copyright holders to effectively shut down websites without procedural safeguards. The DMCA has a provision which is more procedurally guarded, and this...
-
Your domain name is almost as important as your brand name (and in fact often is related to, if not the same as, your brand name). This article shares five qualities which make a given domain name more effective; although there is a lot of...
-
Many would call Jay-Z and Beyonce the most powerful and/or famous couple in hip-hop. They recently had a daughter named Blue Ivy Carter. Recently, the couple filed a trademark for "Blue Ivy Carter," claiming an intent to market...
-
This article examines a dispute involving Cold Stone Creamery franchises and its franchise-wide marketing fund (a common feature of franchise systems). The dispute profiled by the article involves allegedly misleading and incomplete disclosure...
-
YouTube was a pioneer in the field of user-generated content; YouToo came along much later, and brands itself as a "social TV" website. YouToo's trademark registration has been denied due to its striking similarity with that of YouTube...
-
Many commentators point to the NFL's protection of its "Super Bowl" trademark (and related trademarks thereof) as an example of overzealous brand bullying by a deep-pocketed business. This article takes a different tack, and explains how the...
-
The amount of content available on the internet would stagger the mind of an individual from the pre-internet days. Although much of this content is in the public domain, much is also protected by copyright. This article explains the...
-
While you are operating a franchise outlet, the franchise agreement between you and the franchisor details key aspects of how you will run that business. This article explains what happens when the franchise agreement ends; as with franchise...
-
This article highlights three recent news stories involving franchisors and franchisees which are important to both sides of the franchising relationship. The stories involve a franchisee accused of employment discrimination, a franchisor...
-
The title of this article, familiar to longtime devotees of Transformers, refers to a trademark dispute between Asus, a maker of computer hardware, and Hasbro, which owns the Transformers toy franchise. The article explains why Hasbro claims...
-
This article relates to an issue highly relevant to both entrepreneurs choosing a brand name for product, service, or business and existing business owners facing possible trademark infringement and/or cybersquatting. The...
-
People who grew up in the late 1990s remember "Californication" as the title of a popular album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Fans of Showtime's original series in the 2000s know "Californication" as the title of a television program. ...
-
Starbucks is one of the most famous coffee brands in the world. Charbucks is a brand of coffee sold by a New Hampshire Micro Roastery since 1997. This article reviews a decision in Starbucks' trademark dilution suit against the maker of...
-
This article details considerations for choosing a name for a product; specifically, the article looks at this decision from a legal perspective. As the article explains, the legal perspective on choosing a name leans towards choosing a name...
-
Franchising your business idea can be another source of revenue for a creative, effective way of doing business. However, as with anything else, you ought to dot your i's and cross your t's to maximize your chances of success. This...
-
Building and maintaining a strong brand (or brands) is one of the key differentiators between successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs. This article relates three steps (in the form of New Year's resolutions) which often spell the difference...
-
Trademarks can be one of the most valuable assets held by a franchisor--in fact, they are part of the basis of the franchisor's franchise system. This article explains what franchisors (or potential franchisors) need to know about trademarks,...
-
Although franchising can provide the answers to many operational questions you will need to answer should you start your own business, if your franchise will need a physical location, you will often have to lease that location. This article...
-
This article explains some key steps relating to trademark rights which an entrepreneur should take before beginning to build their brand. The article details some of the perils (both legal and business-related) of disregarding trademark...
-
Being a franchisee in a franchise system means that some of the value of your business will depend on how well other franchisees run their business. Many terms of how franchisees can run their businesses are specified in franchise agreements,...
-
Trademark attorneys and other people interested in branding have surely heard of Chick-fil-A's attempts to protect its "Eat Mor Chikin" trademark by persuading a Vermont entrepreneur to stop selling merchandise exhorting people to "Eat More...
-
Canadian-based Research in Motion ("RIM") is widely known as the maker of the Blackberry. This article reviews a trademark infringement claim against RIM over RIM's next-generation smartphone and operating system ("BBX"). BBX was a...
-
To an entrepreneur, a franchise is like any other business opportunity--rather than rushing into it, the prospective franchisee should take the time to learn as much about the opportunity as possible before committing their time and effort to...
-
ING is something of a financial services giant, but solopreneurs can still draw lessons from a recent failed trademark registration by the company. The article explains how a recent attempt by ING to trademark "Person2Person Payment" failed...
-
This article provides five legal considerations which a small business owner should keep in mind when selecting a brand name for their business. The suggestions center around selecting a non-generic brand name, ensuring that you are not...
-
This article answers, as completely as it can, a question which should be on the mind of any franchisee or prospective franchisee: what happens to the owners of a franchise system when the franchisor goes out of business? As the article...
-
Although opening an outlet of a franchise can be an easy way to open your own business, any prospective franchisee should make sure that they understand the ramifications of the terms of the franchise agreement before they sign. This article...
-
This article is a transcript of a Q&A session regarding several legal issues common to startup businesses. Issues considered include the cost-benefit analysis of working with a lawyer, how a small business owner should hire an...
-
Launching an online business can seem like it should be as easy as picking a domain name, finding a developer, and beginning to sell. However, as this article details, consulting with a lawyer can help you avoid risks and protect your...
-
For would-be franchisors, choosing the proper name for your franchise represents a critical step in capturing the value of your business concept. This article explains a crucial consideration in that choice--your ability to trademark the...
-
In a typical franchising structure, the franchisor treats their franchisees as independent business owners. The franchisee pays the franchisor certain fees, and must otherwise conform to the relevant Franchise Agreement. However,...
-
We recently learned that Netflix is responsible for over 30% of all internet traffic at its peak. However, despite this astonishing volume, Netflix does not do everything right. Their recent aborted launch of a new "Qwikster" brand...
-
This article analyzes a trademark infringement case which resulted in the cancellation of a trademark registration. The reason? DentZone, a vehicle repair and maintenance service provider, had obtained registered trademarks which were...
-
This article continues a series on the benefits of brand monitoring. Brand monitoring is crucial for insuring that your trademarks remain strong. Strong trademarks add value to your business, and when you exit your business (such as...
-
This article cautions small business owners, the holders of newly registered trademarks, and business owners who have purchased a domain name (or set of domain names) against trademark registries and domain name application warnings. Both are...
-
This article uses Twitter to illustrate the costs and benefits of filing important trademarks sooner rather than later. Twitter allows users to "tweet" blurbs to other Twitter users who follow them. "Tweeting" is central to Twitter, but...
-
Generic words and terms cannot be protected as registered trademarks. So if, for example, you opened a bookstore called "Bookstore", you likely could not register your store's name as a trademark. The term "generic" contains some...
-
Lady Gaga recently sued a company planning on using her name (which she has trademarked) on cosmetics and jewelry. This article highlights a few important lessons about trademark enforcement which can be drawn from these lawsuits. ...
-
Jeff Fabian concludes his series on the benefits of brand monitoring with a fourth benefit--brand monitoring allows you to better keep tabs on what your competitors are doing. As Mr. Fabian notes, this helps you learn what your competitors have...
-
Jeff Fabian highlights a few news items which demonstrate the value of developing a sound strategy around trademarks and branding in your business.
- Summary by FizzLaw Team
-
When bringing a product to market, an easy way to achieve a memorable brand name would seem to be to pattern it after an existing, dominant brand name in the market. This article explains why this strategy will not work if the competitor whose...
-
This series of articles on the benefits of brand monitoring focuses on monitoring licensees and franchisees to make sure that their use of your trademarks meets with your approval. Mr. Fabian explains why these categories are broader than you...
-
Jeff Fabian highlights some key issues which business owners should make sure to be clear about prior to filing a trademark application with the USPTO. He explains why each of these is important, and helps to understand questions your lawyer...
-
Part 2 of Jeff Fabian's mini-series on the benefits of brand monitoring addresses how instituting a brand monitoring system can allow your business to address consumer reactions and competitor representations. Monitoring what consumers say...
-
The prevalence of social media (and social media advertising) has had a profound effect on the world we live in. This article by Jeff Fabian examines a recent court case which demonstrates social media's effect on trademark infringement...
-
Jeff Fabian begins a four-part series on the value of brand protection by focusing on the benefits to be gained by identifying and addressing potential infringers of your brand before they become a problem. As he notes, this has value even for...
-
Jeff Fabian takes a look at the recent trademark dispute involving the famous Hell's Angels motorcycle club and a clothing boutique in Los Angeles which had begun selling t-shirts featuring trademarks belonging to the Hell's Angels. Mr. Fabian...
-
Jeff Fabian wrote this article to help solo entrepreneurs understand how the law of trademarks can influence their early branding efforts. Mr. Fabian explains the strength of varying trademarks, and the level of protection the law affords each. He...
-
When forming a new business, the entrepreneur (or their lawyer) must deal with a host of legal issues to ensure that the new business can operate and grow free of legal hassles. In this article, Jeff Fabian provides a brief overview of some (but not...
-
Fabian, LLC offers flat-fee options for a variety of trademark, copyright and contract-drafting services. Flat fees take the surprise and guess work out of dealing with an attorney, and help facilitate the attorney-client relationship by avoiding...
-
Jeff Fabian wrote this blog post to help small business owners and entrepreneurs understand some basic legal issues which they need to address when starting a new venture. In this article, Mr. Fabian provides advice in the areas of entity...
-
Jeff Fabian explains how branding and internet presence are intertwined for businesses via the law of trademarks. Some websites--Mr. Fabian uses the example of amazon.com--are actually registered trademarks. Not all are, though; whether...
-
Joint ventures happen when two companies form a separate corporate entity and contribute property to that entity in exchange for ownership interests. In this blog post, Jeff Fabian goes through the ins and outs of joint ventures, including when...
-
Jeff Fabian reviews two important aspects of the franchising process: disclosure by the franchisor, and negotiation of the franchise agreement between the franchisor and franchisee.
The franchisor's primary disclosure vehicle is the...
-
Jeff Fabian explores a problem faced by content providers--while surfing the internet, you find that someone is infringing a copyright you hold. In this blog post, Mr. Fabian explores possible remedies available if you are in this...
-
Jeff Fabian explains the protection available for trade secrets and certain proprietary information. First, he outlines which trade secrets and proprietary information are capable of being legally protected. Then, Mr. Fabian goes over the...
-
Jeff Fabian notes that advertisers face intellectual property concerns (both copyright and trademark) in virtually every aspect of their businesses. In this blog post, Mr. Fabian explains how and why advertisers need to be careful to avoid...
-
The prevalence of social media today raises concerns even for companies which are not active on sites like Facebook and Twitter. In this blog post, Jeff Fabian examines the need for a social media policy to delineate what employees can and...