Brian Russ Law, Inc. is a California trademark legal firm fixated on helping businesses build and protect their brands and their business. We understand the need to distinguish your brand from your competitors. A small business owner and serial entrepreneur, lawyer 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 corporations throughout 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 guidance in Santa Cruz, then you’ve come to the right place. You can also visit our trademark-specific website at BrianTheTrademarkLawyer.com.

What Is A Trademark Attorney?

A trademark attorney is a lawyer who specializes in practicing in the field of trademarks. Trademark attorneys typically have experience in the entire trademark lifecycle from the critical clearance search all the way through litigation support. When choosing a lawyer to protect you’re the brand of your corporation, make sure to work with a lawyer who has no problem working in Santa Cruz, like Brian Russ Law, Inc. 

How Can a Trademark Law Firm Support Your Company?

Protecting brands is a trademark lawyer's primary role. Businesses are in the best position to protect their name if they take a proactive strategy. Our firm's seen many start-ups make the mistake of spending tens of thousands of dollars on merchandise and putting in hours of marketing time only to find out they can't use their preferred brand. Intellectual property is a critical issue for startups, especially when the brand and recognition are primary drivers of revenue from target markets. If you want to protect your business name, call us. 

What To Look For In a Trademark Attorney

Doing nothing to protect your name can cause problems for a business owner. Equally problematic to doing nothing when working on trademarks is to DIY it without an attorney's support. We find the best trademark lawyers are like our firm - experienced in helping businesses of all sizes from across the globe in a variety of industries. When you're looking for legal representation for your trademark, the most important things are their experience and how personable they are. It’s important to find a lawyer with who you can comfortably discuss brand strategy because that will lead to the strongest synergy for your brand. 

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 correct. Securing an LLC or a Fictitious Business Name Statement does not equal trademark protection. The key problem is that the Secretary of State and your county recorder don’t cross-reference your business name with the trademark database. If you want to use your name for your business, you can get governmental approval but those agencies don't verify with the federal trademark database. It's important for a business owner to retain legal counsel to help them assess the risks and benefits of their business name. 
2. BRAND PROTECTION
Most small businesses need to protect their brands. Imagine this – you start a hot dog shop on the main drag of Santa Cruz called “Tommy Tequila’s Good Eats” and you spend decades building your reputation. But you never get around to registering a federal trademark for “Tommy Tequila’s Good Eats”. You happen to go to Vegas for the weekend, and you find a new diner 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 pub is across state lines. Another tricky scenario is what to do if you start a business using a name that was already trademarked by another person. 
3. INFRINGEMENT STRATEGY.
If you have a brand, then you need a strategy on what to do if someone infringes your brand. There are many situations where someone might innocently infringe your brand. In some cases, the infringer will stop when a lawyer sends a notice demanding that they stop. If someone is intentionally ripping off your brand identity to make a profit, then you will need to take steps to stop them. You might need to file a state suit for a temporary and permanent injunction to stop the infringer, plus you can try to recover damages including lost profits. 

Trademary Attorney Brian Russ is Excited to Serve Santa Cruz Creatives

The answer is simple – contactconnect with} Brian Russ Law, Inc. today. We’re fielding calls from potential new clients every day. Having an lawyer on your team to protect your brand can help you avoid costly mistakes and give you invaluable peace of mind.