Brian Russ Law, Inc. is a California trademark law firm focused on helping corporations build and protect their brands and their business. We get the need to differentiate your brand from your competition. A small business owner and serial entrepreneur, attorney Brian sees the worries of small business owners and how securing brand protection is critical when setting your business apart from the competition. Brian works with companies throughout the Golden State work through common trademarking issues like clearance searches, infringement assessment, trademark registration, USPTO office action responses, infringement litigation, use defense, and more. If you’re looking for top-notch trademark legal guidance in Carmel Valley, then you’ve come to the right place. You can also check out our trademark-specific website at BrianTheTrademarkLawyer.com.
Carmel Valley’s Trademark Attorney
What Is A Trademark Attorney?
A trademark lawyer is a lawyer who specializes in practicing in the field of trademarks. You can hire a trademark lawyer to assist give you peace of mind that your logo is protectable and available for your exclusive use. When choosing a lawyer to protect you’re the logo of your corporation, make sure to work with a lawyer who has no problem working in Carmel Valley, like Brian Russ Law, Inc.
How Can a Trademark Lawyer Empower Your Company?
Protecting brands is a trademark attorney’s primary role. Companies are in the strongest position to protect their brand if they think about brand protection pre-launch or shortly after their launch. The amount of money companies spend on start-up products and marketing is enormous, and sometimes, they find out that their preferred name can't be used because another competitor has locked up the name. Intellectual property protection is a key element for startups - especially those that heavily rely on brand recognition to drive user engagement. If you need to get the name of your business trademarked, give us a call.
What To Look For In a Trademark Lawyer
Doing nothing to protect your name can cause problems for a business entrepreneur. Doing trademark work without an attorney's support is just as problematic as doing nothing. A good United States trademark attorney can help any size business in any industry across the world secure trademark protection in the United States. The qualities you should consider when securing legal counsel for your trademark is the experience of the attorney, their online reviews, and how personable they are. To have the best synergy for your brand, it’s important to find a lawyer who you feel comfortable talking with.
The Top Three Areas Small Businesses Need Trademark Support
1. BUSINESS NAME REGISTRATION
Entrepreneurs often think LLCs and DBA/FBN statements keep their names from being violated and that they are not violating others. This is not accurate. Setting up an LLC or a Fictitious Business Name Statement does not equal trademark protection. Although there are some common law trademark rights, the strongest trademark protection is securing a federal trademark from the United States Patent Trademark Office. You can get government approval to use your name for a business, but those agencies will not detect trademark infringement. It is important for a business owner to retain legal counsel to assess the risks and benefits of using their company's name.
2. BRAND PROTECTION
Most small businesses need to protect their brands. Imagine this – you start a burger restaurant on the main drag of Carmel Valley called “Tommy Tequila’s Good Eats” and you spend decades establishing your reputation. Your customers know your business and know your brand, but you don’t federally register your brand’s name. Then, you happen to go to Vegas for the weekend, and you find a year-old restaurant with the same exact name as your business. Without federal trademark protection, you are limited when it comes to enforcement and protection, meaning there’s little you could do to stop the Vegas diner from using your name. An even more common – and still tricky – situation is what to do if your name brand name was federally protected by a third party before you started using yours.
3. INFRINGEMENT STRATEGY.
It is important to have a playbook in place in case someone infringes on your name. There are many cases where someone might accidentally infringe your trademark. Sometimes, having a law firm send a cease-and-desist notice to the infringer will make them stop. In other cases, where the infringer is intentionally and maliciously infringing your brand, you need to be prepared to take steps to fight them. You might need to file a lawsuit for a temporary injunction and/or permanent injunction to stop the infringer. You can try to recover lost profits as well.
Trademary Attorney Brian Russ is Excited to Serve Carmel Valley Companies
The answer is easy – contactconnect with} Brian Russ Law, Inc. today. We’re fielding inquiries from potential new clients every day. Having an attorney on your team to protect your brand can help you avoid costly mistakes and give you invaluable peace of mind.