Brian Russ Law, Inc. is a California trademark legal firm centered on helping businesses 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 recognizes the difficulties of small business owners and how securing brand protection is critical when setting your business apart from the competition. Brian works with businesses across California work through common trademar 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 Tustin, 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 logo of your enterprise, make sure to work with a lawyer who has no problem working in Tustin, like Brian Russ Law, Inc. 

How Can a Trademark Law Firm Help Your Business?

Protecting brands is a trademark attorney’s primary role. Businesses need to assess brand protection before they launch or shortly thereafter. 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 market engagement. 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 Lawyer

Doing nothing to protect your name can cause problems for a business entrepreneur. Equally problematic to doing nothing when working on trademarks is to do-it-yourself without an attorney's support. We find the best trademark attorneys are like our firm - experienced in helping businesses of all sizes from across the globe in a variety of industries. The things you should consider when securing legal support for your trademark is the experience of the lawyer, their online reviews, and how personable they are. It’s important to find an attorney with who you can comfortably discuss brand strategy because that will lead to the best synergy for your brand. 

The Top Three Areas Small Businesses Need Trademark Support

1.	BUSINESS NAME REGISTRATION
We commonly see business owners think that setting up an LLC or registering a DBA/FBN statement means their company name is trademarked and safe from dispute. This is not correct. Registering an LLC or a Doing Business As Statement does not equal trademark protection. The main issue here is that the Secretary of State and your county recorder don’t cross-reference trademarks with business names. 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. 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
Brand protection is needed for most small businesses. Imagine this – you start a burger shop on the main drag of Tustin called “Tommy Tequila’s Good Eats” and you spend years building your reputation. But you don’t take steps to federally register your trademark for “Tommy Tequila’s Good Eats”. Life can be a gamble sometimes. You end up in Vegas and find out that your restaurant has the same name as a new pub on The Strip. 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. An even more common – and still difficult – situation is what to do if your name brand slogan was federally protected by a third party before you started using yours. 
3. INFRINGEMENT STRATEGY.
It is important to have a plan in place in case someone infringes on your brand. It's important to be aware of how your brand might be infringed on by others. When an infringement occurs, sending a cease-and-desist letter to the offender can 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. A federal lawsuit could be necessary to receive a temporary and permanent injunction to stop the infringer. You can also try to recover damages including lost profits. 

Trademary Attorney Brian Russ is Here to Serve Tustin Businesses

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