Brian Russ Law, Inc. is a California trademark legal firm fixated on helping companies build and protect their brands and their business. We appreciate the need to differentiate your brand from your competition. A small business owner and serial entrepreneur, attorney Brian hears the struggles of small business owners and how securing brand protection is vital when setting your business apart from the competition. Brian works with businesses 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 Shafter, then you’ve come to the right place. You can also check out our trademark-specific website at BrianTheTrademarkLawyer.com.
Shafter’s Trademark Attorney
What Is A Trademark Attorney?
Small businesses should spend their time running their company and not getting bothered with the intricacies of trademark law, which should be left to a trademark attorney. 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 business, make sure to work with a lawyer who has no problem working in Shafter, like Brian Russ Law, Inc.
How Can a Trademark Lawyer Help Your Business?
A trademark lawyer's role is to help their clients protect their brands. Companies need to consider brand protection before they launch or shortly thereafter. Our firm's seen so many companies drop hundreds of thousands of dollars on merchandise and marketing only to discover that they can't use their preferred name. Intellectual property protection is a key element for startups - especially those that heavily rely on brand recognition to drive consumer engagement. If you need to get the name of your brand trademarked, give us a call.
What To Look For In a Trademark Attorney
The worst thing a business entrepreneur can do to protect their name is to do nothing. 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 company in any industry across the globe secure trademark protection in the United States. The things you should consider when securing legal counsel for your trademark is the experience of the counselor, 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
Creatives often think LLCs and DBA/FBN statements keep their names from being violated and that they are not violating others. This is not true. Setting up 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. So you can get their clearance to use your business name, but you’re still exposed to potential trademark infringement liability because your name might infringe on someone’s trademark. As a business owner, you need to hire an attorney to find out if your company name infringes on someone else's trademark.
2. BRAND PROTECTION
Small businesses have a lot to worry about, but brand protection should not be one of them. Imagine this – you start a sandwich shop on the main drag of Shafter called “Tommy Tequila’s Good Eats” and you spend years 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 brand new pub 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 restaurant is across state lines. Another frustrating scenario is what to do if you start a business using a name that was already trademarked by another company.
3. INFRINGEMENT STRATEGY.
Make sure you have a plan in place to protect your name if someone infringes your brand. There are many cases where someone might innocently infringe your trademark. When an infringement occurs, sending a demand letter to the offender can make them stop. If someone is intentionally copying your brand identity to make a profit, then you will need to take steps to stop them. You may need to file a state lawsuit for a temporary and permanent injunction to stop the infringer, plus you can try to recover damages including attorney’s fees.
Trademary Attorney Brian Russ is Here to Serve Shafter Companies
The answer is simple – contactconnect with} Brian Russ Law, Inc. today. We’re fielding inquiries from potential new clients every day. Having an lawyer on your team to protect your intellectual property can help you avoid costly mistakes and give you invaluable peace of mind.