Copyrights and Trademarks

**djyr2003** · 05-25-2009 06:53 PM

I am going to be marketing a new product, in a newly created company. I am working on the patent. I was wondering what I need to do as far as registering the company name and the name of the product so that no one else can use them. Which needs to be copyrighted, and which needs to be trademarked?

**LSnyder** · 05-26-2009 01:23 PM

Hi djyr2003,

The firm I work for, Pepper Law Group, LLC, has expertise in Trademarking. FYI we charge a flat fee of $1500 for the search and formal opinion letter.
If we can be of any assistance to you, please give us a call. You can find the website, phone numbers and my email address, in my signature.

Kind regards,

Lisa Snyder

**BBlackwood** · 06-09-2009 09:36 PM

To really get a clear opinion, you should seek legal advice. But you can do a simple trademark search yourself before you sink a lot into legal fees. Go to the U.S. Patent and Trademark website. (USPTO)

Then to the Trademark Search area (TESS) and search the names you want. It will bring up any other trademarked uses of the name – both live and dead. What you're looking for are other companies in your industry that have that name. (You can only trademark for one industry.) If you see none, it's worth hiring a legal firm to do a full search.

If you DO see other live use of the names in your industry, save your money and find a different name.

**SOCMiles** · 06-11-2009 01:33 PM

Check your local universities to see if any of them have a USPTO Library... If they do, go in and talk to the librarian who runs it. The first things they will say is "I am not a lawyer and can't give you legal advice..." but then they can begin to point you in the direction of the answers you are searching for. Doing a basic search yourself, with the help of the librarian is a great initial step... If you don't find anything close, your on the right path, and go see an Intellectual Property Rights Lawyer.

The reason I say this is because something like 60% of applications are denied, (and still paid for). You may be able to save yourself some time and money heading up the initial research yourself... And our local USPTO librarian here happens to be great at what she does... Hope you are as lucky.

**terrycan** · 06-11-2009 01:58 PM

Dear djyr2003

Congratulations on your new business.

I'm not a lawyer and laws vary by state, province and country.

I believe the company name will fall under trademarks.

My lawyer tells me any thing that can be written can have a copywrite.

I'm very lucky because I'm a member of a legal service that allows me to call a lawyer on any subject without paying a fee.

**noob** · 06-11-2009 02:53 PM

PPL is not an adequate or remotely close to an option to a replace real personal attorney. Its am MLM that plays on a network of half decent attorneys that create very strict limitation on what you can and can not do for the monthly fee you pay. In all honestly, in the long scheme of things, you save more going to a real attorney with solid advice and actually being able to do more for you than paying a monthly fee for an attorney that has limitations on what they can provide and charging you fees for things that are not covered in your monthly fee.

I am familiar with this because my old college roommate was in PPL and I've seen first hand the comparison of dealing with several actual attorneys versus what he was able to get out of his PPL help. Just my two cents.