Category Archives: Trademarks

The Ohio State University Sign
“THE” Trademark is Now Owned by Ohio State

Originally Posted July 19, 2021 Updated December 22, 2022 Ohio State University recently registered the word “THE” as its trademark.  Ohio State has registered the word “the” with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Everyone I have talked to about this has the same reaction. Can you register a common word? Of course, you […]

Searching
How to Do a Trademark Search

The most important step to strong trademark protection Your trademark is likely your most valuable Intellectual Property Asset. If you chose a strong trademark, it will grow in value as your business reputation grows. A trademark is actually a form of protection for your business reputation. It’s what consumers use to identify you. It is […]

Matoon, IL Burger King
How Do I Trademark a Name?

Originally Posted December 21, 2021 Updated December 8, 2022   Your trademark may be your most valuable asset and should be protected. The best way to protect your mark is to register it. You can register a mark with the United States Trademark Office, state trademark offices, and in other countries. The best approach depends […]

Trademarks stamp
Trademarks

Trademarks identify goods or services coming from a single source and can include business or product names, logos or slogans. Some examples of trademarks are the name Nike, the Coca-Cola bottle shape and the sound of the light saber from “Star Wars.” In the United States, common law trademark protection is limited to the geographic area […]

Trademark vs Copyright
Trademark vs. Copyright

Which Do I Choose? They’re both valuable to business Trademarks Trademarks protect the reputation of a business. They also identify the source of goods for consumers. Intellectual property law can be confusing. The USPTO website defines a trademark as “a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of […]

Little,Man,Trapped,In,A,Glass,,Surreal,Concept
Business Owners Beware: Trademark Traps

Originally Posted June 28, 2021 Updated September 29, 2022 IP rights have never been more valuable. A well-managed IP portfolio can be worth one third or more of the total value of your business. Unfortunately, most businesses treat IP as an afterthought. Even if you don’t, you can still lose valuable rights by falling into […]

Winning a fight
Nestle Ordered to Stop Using Incredible Trademark

Posted June 8, 2020 Updated September 8, 2022 Impossible Food wins Impossible trademark battle! The District Court of The Hague in the Netherlands ruled that Nestlé’s use of Incredible infringes upon the Impossible Foods trademark Impossible. The court said Nestlé was trying to deliberately confuse consumers.           Consumers would be confused […]

Trademark Registration Can Be Tricky
Trademark Registration – The Rest of the Story

A quick summary of where we left off. A doctor creates a new product with a distinctive trademark. He registers it with the United States Trademark Office. He approaches a big box store that is interested. But a few weeks later, they launch their own product with his trademark. We talked about option’s including filing […]

hanging
Trademark Registration Can Be Tricky

You don’t know what you don’t know; and it can be costly. Recently, I got a call from Bob Smith. Bob’s a doctor and a budding entrepreneur. He was upset. He said one of the big box stores had stolen his trademark. He explained that he had developed a hand sanitizer that was easier on […]