Brian Russ Law, Inc. is a California trademark legal firm centered on helping corporations build and protect their brands and their business. We appreciate the need to distinguish your brand from your competitors. A small business owner and serial entrepreneur, lawyer Brian hears the struggles of small business owners and how securing brand protection is critical when setting your business apart from the competition. Brian works with corporations across California work through common branding 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 support in San Luis Obispo, then you’ve come to the right place. You can also check out our trademark-specific website at BrianTheTrademarkLawyer.com.
San Luis Obispo’s Trademark Attorney
What Is A Trademark Attorney?
A trademark attorney is someone with experience in trademark registration, protection, and litigation support who regularly works with creatives. Trademark lawyers can generally do most work on a flat-fee basis and operate independently of the larger firms that bill too much for too little. When choosing a lawyer to protect you’re the brand of your company, make sure to work with a lawyer who has no problem working in San Luis Obispo, like Brian Russ Law, Inc.
How Can a Trademark Lawyer Support Your Business?
A trademark lawyer's job is bedeviling simple - to help businesses protect their brand. Businesses need to consider brand protection before they launch or shortly thereafter. Our firm's seen many start-ups make the oversight of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on merchandise and putting in hours of marketing time only to find out they can't use their preferred name. Intellectual property protection is important for startups, especially those that depend on their branding to engage users. You can save time and legal costs by calling us to conduct a clearance search prior to launching your brand.
What To Look For In a Trademark Law Fim
The best way a business owner can protect their name is to take action. Doing trademark work without an attorney's support is just as problematic as doing nothing. We find the best trademark attorneys are like us - experienced in helping businesses of all sizes from across the globe in a variety of industries. When choosing a trademark counselor, consider their experience and online reviews as well as how personable they are. As an entrepreneur, it's important to find a lawyer who you can talk to comfortably about your campaign. This will be the best route for your brand.
The Top Three Areas Small Businesses Need Trademark Support
1. BUSINESS NAME REGISTRATION
A lot of business owners think that setting up an LLC or a DBA/FBN statement means their name is trademarked to protect from dispute. This is not accurate. Setting up an LLC or a Fictitious Business Name Statement does not equal trademark protection. Name protection is stronger with a federal trademark from the United States Patent Trademark Office rather than use-based state common law trademark rights. So you can get the Secretary of State and county approval to use your business name, but you’re still exposed to potential trademark infringement liability because your name might infringe on someone’s trademark. 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
Brand protection is vital for most small businesses. Imagine this – you start a burger shop on the main drag of San Luis Obispo called “Tommy Tequila’s Good Eats” and you spend decades establishing your reputation. But you don’t take steps to federally register your trademark for “Tommy Tequila’s Good Eats”. You happen to go to Vegas for the weekend, and you find a brand new restaurant with the same exact name as your business. Sadly, your options for enforcement and protection would be limited since you have no federal protection for your brand’s name and the Vegas diner is across state lines. Another hard scenario is how to deal with a cease-and-desist notice when your brand name is the same as one that was federally registered by another company prior to you using yours.
3. INFRINGEMENT STRATEGY.
If you have a brand, then you need a strategy on what to do if someone infringes your brand. There may be cases where others infringe on your brand without realizing it. When an infringement occurs, sending a demand letter to the offender can make them stop. In other cases, where the offender is intentionally and maliciously infringing your brand, you need to be prepared to take steps to fight them. A state lawsuit could be needed to get a temporary and permanent injunction to stop the infringer. You can also try to recover damages including lost profits.
Trademary Attorney Brian Russ is Available to Serve San Luis Obispo Businesses
The answer is simple – 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 logo can help you avoid costly mistakes and give you invaluable peace of mind.