Brian Russ Law, Inc. is a United States trademark law firm centered on helping businesses build and protect their brands. We get the need to distinguish your brand from your competition. A small business owner and serial entrepreneur, attorney Brian understands 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 across the United States work through common trademark 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 Wheeling, Illinois, then you’ve come to the right place.
“Hold up,” you may be thinking, “I heard Brian Russ Law, Inc. a California law firm? Can they help clients outside of California, like in Wheeling or Illinois?” Yes! We help entrepreneurs worldwide with trademark registration support services. The USPTO allows attorneys licensed anywhere in the US to represent clients in USPTO proceedings. Also learn more at our trademark-specific website at BrianTheTrademarkLawyer.com.
Wheeling’s Trademark Attorney
What Is A Trademark Attorney?
Small businesses should spend their time running their corporation and not getting tied up 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 Wheeling, like Brian Russ Law, Inc.
How Can a Trademark Lawyer Empower Your Business?
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. 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 one of the most important things for startups. That's especially true for companies that rely on their brand recognition to generate user interest. If you need to get the name of your brand trademarked, give us a call.
What To Look For In a Trademark Attorney
Doing nothing to protect your name can cause problems for a business owner. Doing trademark work without an attorney's support is just as problematic as doing nothing. 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 traits 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 a lawyer with who you can comfortably discuss brand strategy because that will lead to the best synergy for your business.
The Top Three Areas Small Businesses Need Trademark Support
1. BUSINESS NAME REGISTRATION
A lot of entrepreneurs think that setting up an LLC or a DBA/FBN statement means their name is trademarked to protect from dispute. This is not correct. Registering an LLC or a Fictitious Business Name Statement does not equal trademark protection. The problem is that the Secretary of State and your county recorder don’t cross-reference business names with the trademark list. 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's important for any business owner to retain a lawyer to assess the trademark risk of using their business name.
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 hot dog restaurant on the main drag of Wheeling} 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 year-old 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 restaurant is across state lines. Another difficult 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 person prior to you using yours.
3. INFRINGEMENT STRATEGY.
Make sure you have a playbook in place to protect your brand if someone infringes your brand. There may be cases where businesses infringe on your brand without realizing it. In some cases, the infringer will stop when a lawyer sends a notice demanding that they stop. willfully ripping off your trademark identity to make a profit, then you will need to take steps to stop them. You could 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.
Trademark Attorney Brian Russ is Available to Serve Wheeling} Companies
The answer is simple – callconnect 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 brand can help you avoid costly mistakes and give you invaluable peace of mind.