Brian Russ Law, Inc. is a California trademark law firm centered on helping corporations build and protect their brands and their business. We get the need to differentiate your brand from your competitors. A small business owner and serial entrepreneur, attorney Brian gets the struggles of small business owners and how securing brand protection is vital when setting your business apart from the competition. Brian works with corporations across the Golden State work through common brand 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 advice in Ventura, then you’ve come to the right place. You can also learn more at our trademark-specific website at BrianTheTrademarkLawyer.com.

What Is A Trademark Attorney?

Small businesses should spend their time running their enterprise and not getting distracted with the intricacies of trademark law, which should be left to a trademark attorney. 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 enterprise, make sure to work with a lawyer who has no problem working in Ventura, like Brian Russ Law, Inc. 

How Can a Trademark Law Firm Help Your Business?

A trademark attorney’s job is to help businesses protect their brands and make sure other people don't infringe on them. Companies are in the best position to protect their brand if they think about brand protection pre-launch or shortly after their launch. Our firm's seen many companies make the mistake 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 logo. 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. When you're looking for legal representation for your trademark, the most important things are their experience and how personable they are. Your lawyer should be someone you can talk to about your brand. The better the synergy, the better your business will thrive. 

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. Securing an LLC or a Fictitious Business Name Statement does not equal trademark protection. The most prudent way to protect a name is to receive federal trademark registration. 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 sandwich shop on the main drag of Ventura called “Tommy Tequila’s Good Eats” and you spend years establishing your reputation. But you don’t take steps to federally register your trademark for “Tommy Tequila’s Good Eats”. Imagine going to Las Vegas and finding a year-old restaurant with the same name as your business in neon lights. 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 what to do if you start a business using a name that was already trademarked by another person. 
3. INFRINGEMENT STRATEGY.
Make sure you have a strategy in place to protect your name if someone infringes your brand. It's important to be aware of how your brand might be infringed on by people. When an infringement occurs, sending a cease-and-desist notice to the offender can make them stop. If someone is intentionally stealing your trademark identity to make a profit, then you will need to take steps to stop them. A federal 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 Lawyer Brian Russ is Excited to Serve Ventura Companies

The answer is easy – 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.