How To Avoid Legal Trouble From Trademark Infringement When You Buy A Domain Name

So you have a hot idea for a website, or maybe you want to capitalize on a hot new product that has just been released. There are some things that you will want to know first before you get yourself in a lot of hot water.

Choosing a domain name isn't really rocket science but it is very important. You want to choose something that is as short as possible, easy to pronounce and remember for marketing purposes, and if at all possible you want to get your main keywords in the domain name. All that aside, you also have to be careful that you don't step on the toes of a person or company who may be inclined to sue you.

For example, judges have ruled against domain name squatters in every case where they registered a celebrity's name. They will also rule against companies that infringe upon other companies. A good case in point would be the case a couple of years ago between the World Wrestling Federation and the World Wildlife Foundation. The World Wrestling Federation called itself the "WWF", put up a website at wwf.com, and the World Wildlife Foundation filed a trademark infringement suit against them. The Wildlife Foundation won because they had been in existence for many years before the wrestling firm and therefore the World Wrestling Federation had to change its name to World Wrestling Entertainment. Obviously this cost them a great some of money to change their name that appeared on millions of marketing products all over the world as well as the expense they had put up on their website and online marketing.

Another more recent issue that is still ongoing is the battle between Apple and the V.O.I.P. product "iphone" from Cisco. Apple announced they would be bringing a product to market called the Apple iPhone to go along with their other products that start with an "I". Cisco promptly filed for injunctive relief and as of this writing the issue is unresolved.

There are a few basic guidelines that will help keep you out of trouble when you are choosing a domain name so you don't run into legal trouble from violating someone?s trademark. Let's take a look at them.

First off you need to realize that a name that is used to identify a particular service or product is a recognized trademark. Trademarks that are deemed to be suggestive and memorable are granted protection by both state and federal law.

A confliction of trademarks occurs when one trademark is in conflict with another and the deployment of both is probably going to be confusing to customers or would be customers concerning the company's products or services. As I illustrated above, when the legal issue is with a later user of a trademark, the law rules that the first commercial user of the trademark is the legal owner and is therefore given protection. The loser will be forced to cease using the trademark and may even be compelled to pay damages to the original owner, particularly if it is determined that they were malicious in their intent.

The smart thing to do is to consult a trademark lawyer and have them check out your idea for a domain name before you invest too much in developing and marketing it.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Beach, Florida. Find more about this as well as intellectual property attorneys at http://www.focusonip.com

Use It or Lose It: Guidelines for Proper Trademark Use

Once obtained, trademark rights can last indefinitely. However, in order to protect and maintain these rights, a trademark owner must properly use their mark. It is important to remember that trademark rights are based on use. Thus, failure to use a mark properly or to prevent others from misusing or infringing a mark can result in an owner?s loss of trademark rights. The following guidelines for proper trademark use apply to advertising, correspondence, promotional material, displays, labels, packaging, signs, web sites, and any other media that uses, discusses, or describes the mark.

A. Use Proper Trademark Grammar

The most important rule of grammar regarding proper trademark use is that a trademark should be used as an adjective, not a noun or verb. Using the mark as an adjective helps distinguish the mark from the generic term it modifies. After all, a mark is used to identify the source or brand of a product, not the product itself. It is important to follow this rule to prevent your mark from potentially becoming considered generic. Examples of proper use include: KLEENEX ?tissue; APPLE? computer; and JACUZZI? hot tub. Note that each mark (adjective) is used to modify the generic term (noun). In fact, since trademarks function as adjectives, they should always be accompanied by the correct generic name for the product or service.

Other rules of grammar important to proper trademark use include avoiding the use of a trademark in the plural or possessive form. When referring to more than one trademarked product, do not pluralize the trademark. Instead, use the plural form of the generic product to which you are referring. For example, it would be incorrect to say ?Could you pass me some kleenexes so I can blow my nose?? The correct statement should be ?Could you pass me some KLEENEX? tissues so I can blow my nose?? Likewise, trademarks should not be made possessive. Rather, the generic product name should be made possessive. For example, it is improper to use ?I really like Febreze?s fresh scent.? The correct use of the mark should be ?I really like the Febreze? air freshener?s fresh scent.?

B. Distinguish Your Mark

Trademarks should stand out from surrounding text. This helps to further distinguish the trademark from ordinary descriptive or generic terms. There are numerous ways to present a trademark to make it stand out. A non-exhaustive list of examples includes:

All capitals: VASELINE? petroleum jelly
Initial capitals: Kleenex? tissue
Quotation marks: ?Channellock? ? pliers
Italics: Life Savers? candy
Boldface: Pizza Hut? restaurant
Use of the word ?brand?: Scotch? brand and transparent tape.

C. Identify Your Mark as a Trademark

There are several ways to indicate to the public that you are using your mark as a trademark or service mark. The most common way that trademark owner?s put others on notice that they are using a mark as a trademark or service mark is by using the symbols TM, SM, or ?. The TM symbol is used to identify an unregistered trademark, while the SM symbol is used to identify an unregistered service mark. Use of the TM or SM symbol does not imply that a trademark application has been filed; it simply means that the term is claimed as a trademark. On the other hand, the ? symbol is used to identify a trademark or service mark that has been registered with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Thus, the ? symbol should be used only in connection with a registered mark. Alternatively, there are other proper forms of notice for registered trademarks, including: ?Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.? and ?Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.?

It should be noted that use of a statutory notice is not required. However, to collect damages and profits in an infringement suit brought under the Lanham Act, statutory notice or the defendant?s actual notice of plaintiff?s registration is required.

D. Be Consistent

Trademarks should be used consistently. Variations on how the mark is presented should be avoided. Failure to use a mark consistently can result in consumer confusion or dilute the distinctiveness of the mark. On the other hand, using a mark the same way every time will enhance the distinctiveness, and thus, the consumer?s recognition of the mark.

Conclusion

The guidelines set forth above are by no means inflexible. However, by following the rules of proper use it will be much less likely that a trademark is used improperly. Furthermore, adhering to these rules is likely to increase consumer awareness that a term is being used as a trademark. Thus, a trademark owner should ensure that their marks are properly used, or else run the risk of losing their rights.

? 2006, Gallagher & Dawsey Co., LPA November 2006

DISCLAIMER

We hope you understand that we cannot possibly give accurate legal advice to all inventors in a brief article on intellectual property issues that should be considered when starting a business. Accordingly, nothing in the above is intended as specific legal advice to any person. Such legal advice can only be given by a qualified practitioner after a careful review of all the individual facts. We urge you to consult us, or another licensed professional, before you proceed.

David Dawsey is an intellectual property attorney with the law firm of Gallagher and Dawsey Co. LPA. David also operates TheTrademarkFirm.com website, which is the online portal for trademark searches and applications. Please visit http://www.TheTrademarkFirm.com. You may learn more about the trademark services offered by Gallagher and Dawsey Co. LPA at http://www.invention-protection.com/ip/practice_areas/trademark.html.

Do Free Trademark Search to Avoid Problems with Your Application

If you are looking to register a trademark, you may be wondering if there is a free way to make sure someone else doesn't already have it. Well, that is both a yes and a no. There is no shortage of sites that can do a quick search without a charge.

However, you will need to do a thorough search to be really sure that the name is available. The first step may be being sure you understand what a trademark is in the first place. A trademark is defined as a word or unique name, phrase, symbol, logo, image, design, or may be combinations of these different elements that distinctively identify the service or product you offer to customers; this distinguishes a particular company from their competitors.

Basically, what this boils down to is a symbol or name that identifies your business and keeps it protected from competitors. Also, it makes it illegal for anyone to copy your item without your permission. This is actually enforceable by the government.

The internet is a great tool to use when looking for a free trademark search and is very widely used. You can even use sites that will show you existing trademarks so you know what has already been taken versus coming up with one just to be disappointed that someone else already had your great idea.

Here are a couple of places to perform a free trademark search to see if the trademark you are thinking of is already taken.

The USPTO - United States Patent and Trademark Office - has a website where you can do searches of existing federal trademarks on file. While you are bumping around on the site, check out the depository and download it for later reference. There is also a spot where you can look at a list of goods that can be trademarked.

For example, you cannot trademark a banana, but when you make it a Chiquita, it has been trademarked. It is a good all around site to start with. There is a fact sheet of sorts for the facts of trademarks. Be aware, however, that there are some holes in the site.

For example, if the trademark is on the state level, it will not be on the federal website. Also, the search engine within the site is not intelligent, that is, it does not look for spelling variations, synonyms, word placement and the like. You will have to do that on your own.

The Secretary of States' websites are also worth visiting. Check to see if your state offers a database that is searchable online. Chances are though, this will not include the federal database, or common law databases. Check to see if it is updated regularly and if the search is intelligent to help aid you in your quest.

You can also check the Yellow Pages online. Simply enter the name of a business and leave the rest of the fields blank. This will perform a nationwide search of the name you put in. This is going to be like the United States Patent and Trademark Office site in that the search engine is not intelligent and any variations would have to be put in manually.

By taking advantage of the free trademark searches online, you can gather all kinds of information that may prove useful in your endeavor to register a trademark. If you are not satisfied with what you have come up with, you can also hire a privet company or an attorney.

This is also a good option if you find you do not have the time to search every spelling or word placement variation on several sites. They will be able to perform this detailed search for you for a cost.

You can easily file for a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. They are going to make sure there are no trademarks already existing that are similar or exactly like the one you are wising to register. Keep in mind though, that they are not there for the new applicants, but to protect the integrity of existing trademarks.

If the trademark you are trying to file has a resemblance to one already on file, the application will be denied and you will have to start over and submit a new one. This could take months to know if your application has been approved or not, that is why it is so important to do your home work ahead of time.

Joseph Savard has been in the business of trademarking for 15 years now and is the best selling author of the ebook "The Trademarking Handbook" Check out his website for your guide on how to register a trademark now. >http://www.trademarkinghandbook.com

Using A Mark You Cannot Trademark-Be Careful

When coming up with a logo or mark, there are plenty of options. Sometimes, people make a choice that cannot be trademarked and this leads to problems.

When you start a business, you probably have visions of huge success. At the same time, it can be difficult to plan for it when you are sitting in your home office or garage and just getting started. Unfortunately, this is when many of the most important steps are required to be taken. One is picking a mark to identify your products or services.

A mark is simply something that identifies your products or services to consumers. Classic examples of this include ?coca cola?, the Nike Swoosh and many others. When you see one of these marks, you immediately identify them with the company and product in question. In legal terms, the mark is indicative of a certain quality of products or services.

When coming up with your mark, you have to be careful. Not everything can be trademarked. For instance, ?Google? is unique and clearly something that can be trademarked. When you see the Google logo, you know it refers to a search engine that allows people to find things on the web. Now, what if Google was instead called ?search engine?? The phrase is already commonly used and associated with other sites providing search functions for consumers. As a result, it cannot be trademarked.

So, why does all of this matter. Try to look into the future for your business. What if you become a huge success? Remember, Microsoft started with a couple of people and so did Google. You could be the next one. That being said, what if you ?go big? with a mark that cannot be trademarked? Other businesses will be able to use your mark! If you want to talk about a business disaster, this is it.

Imagine if Google could not be trademarked. Every other search engine could use the term in their marketing and on their web pages. This would cause massive confusion among consumers. More importantly, those consumers would be diverted to competitors of Google. Do you think that would hurt Google?s bottom line? You bet.

When starting a business, try to use distinct names and logos that are not common place. Get your trademarks. As the business grows, consumers will come to know your mark and identify it with your product or service. This, of course, is the key to getting them to come back and buy from you.

Richard A. Chapo is with SanDiegoBusinessLawFirm.com - providing trademark registration services.

International Trademarks and the Madrid Protocol

Protecting your logo and so on with a trademark is a smart move. Ah, but what about protecting it in the United States AND internationally?

Filling for a trademark is a smart move for practically any business. Although the process can be lengthy, the final approval gives you the ability to stop competitors from using your mark to confuse consumers and perhaps steal them.

To obtain a trademark, one has to file an application with the Patent and Trademark Office. The application sets out the areas, known as classes, you wish the mark to apply to. Once the ?PTO? approves your application, it is published for comment. Assuming no objections are raised, your trademark is approved. It is important to understand, however, the mark only applies to the United States.

If you want to gain international protection for your trademark, you need to understand the Madrid Protocol. The protocol was created to deal with problems where two marks were registered in different countries and conflicts then resulted. The idea is to create a clearinghouse where a trademark in one country automatically applies to the other countries signing on to the Protocol. The United States signed on to the Madrid Protocol in 2003. 80 others have signed on as well, including most major economic countries.

To apply for an international trademark, one files a form with the Patent and Trademark Office. The application must perfectly match the national mark you are seeking. Once filed, it is forwarded by the Patent and Trademark Office to the International Bureau in Switzerland where the application is run against an international database and approved or rejected.

The cost for filing the international application is $100 per class you wish the mark to apply to, although there are exceptions where $150 is the cost. If approved, the registration will last for a period of 10 years. You can renew the registration for subsequent 10 year periods as necessary.

Filing an international trademark is a smart move if you envision your business entering international transactions. A question of cost effectiveness, however, certainly needs to be considered for most small businesses. Simply put, your money may be spent more effectively in other areas.

Richard A. Chapo is with SanDiegoBusinessLawFirm.com - providing trademark registration services.

The Role of Trademarks

Once you start conducting business, you are going to start running into the topic of intellectual property and trademarks. Understanding the role of a trademark will help you grasp why they are important.

A trademark is a unique form of intellectual property. Most intellectual property is created to protect the person or business creating it. A patent, for example, is designed to protect the inventor from having other parties use it without consent. Copyright works much the same way. A person who writes a hit song should receive compensation from it and copyright is designed to protect the person in this regard.

A trademark is unique because it performs two purposes. The first is similar to patents and copyrights. A trademark is a way for a person or business to protect a logo, etc., from the misuse by others. In truth, this is pretty much the underlying idea of most intellectual property. The only time a protected intellectual property right can be legally infringed upon is if the infringer pays a royalty or licensing fee for the right to use it.

Trademarks, however, also serve a secondary purpose. This purpose has its basis in something called public policy. Throughout the law, you will find guidelines that are set forth as a matter of public policy. These guidelines essentially are designed to help the general pool of consumers in some way.

With trademarks, there is a strong public policy supporting their establishment. The policy has to do with consumer confusion and the quality of products or services. When a consumer sees a trademark, they associate a company and level of quality with that mark. For instance, a person associates a certain cola drink with the ?Coca Cola? trademark.

When a trademark is allegedly infringed upon, the court will evaluate the issue of whether the alleged infringement is such that it is likely to confuse consumers. If it is, then a ruling of infringement is more like. For instance, assume Reebok started selling a sneaker that had a swoosh similar to Nike. The swoosh, however, was vertical instead of horizontal. Nike would certainly file suit for trademark infringement claiming that the Reebok swoosh created confusion among consumers. It would also win!

When considering whether to trademark your logo, etc., you need to evaluate how it helps consumers identify with your product or service. The more distinct your mark, the better chance you have of both being approved for a trademark and then defending it against competitors.

Richard A. Chapo is a trademark lawyer with SanDiegoBusinessLawFirm.com

The Difference Between Trade Secrets And Trademarks

Some people get confused between trade secrets and trademarks. A trademark is something that is publicly recognized and known as being officially associated with a particular company. In contrast a trade secret can be a much more broad definition and by its very name is not made public.

According to the laws in most states, any device, pattern, formula, idea, or collection of information that gives the owner an advantage in the marketplace and is protected by the owner in a way that shows that it can be reasonably expected to keep their competitors or the public from finding out about it without stealing it is considered a trade secret.

There are many examples I can give of trade secrets. In an actual product, a trade secret could be the way certain ingredients are combined in the formulation of a nutritional supplement. Recipes, in particular those employed at commercial restaurants, are considered to be trade secrets.

One very famous one that I can think of right off is Colonel Sander's recipe for his Kentucky Fried Chicken. An idea for an invention that one has that they have not filed for a patent on yet would also be considered a trade secret, as are the complex algorithms that search engines like Google use to give us search results online.

Trade secrets are the opposite of other types of protecting of intellectual property such as trademarks and patents. The whole idea of a trade secret is to keep it from public knowledge and it is basically something that a person or company does themselves. Your trade secret will be given protection under law until you make the information public.

Companies and individuals protect information that they are unable to guard with other legal means such as patents and trademarks. There are numerous things that can be considered trade secrets. An idea that will give you a big jump over your competition in a particular market or even an idea for a piece of software or a website would also be a trade secret. Business information that you keep secret and only allow access to by employees such as marketing plans, costs, and pricing would be protected under law.

According to the law, the owner of a trade secret can legally prevent employees from using trade secret information or disclosing it by binding them with confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements. They also have legal protection from people who get the information by stealing it or through industrial espionage as well as people who get the information knowing that it is a protected trade secret.

The best way for a company to protect itself legally is to have employees sign a non-disclosure agreement, also known as an NDA. You should also have them signed by anyone that you do business with such as lenders and investors. An intellectual property attorney can help you with drafting this important document.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Beach, Florida. Find more about this as well as trademark lawyers at http://www.focusonip.com

 

PPC Ads Face A New Trademark Limitation

A federal court ruled last week that it is not only a trademark violation any longer to use another company?s trademark to deceive search engine users in the paid ad headline. The court has further ruled, that you can not purchase a trademark as a keyword to bring up your paid listing on Google, Yahoo, MSN and other search engines. This decision stemmed from a national jewelry company, who bid on the term, ?dating ring? to bring up their ad for the sale of the companies own diamond rings. The problem was that another company already had the trademark to the term ?The Dating Ring?. When this term was entered by users of the search engines, the national company?s ad came up for the sale of rings.

The defendant argued it never placed the trademarked term on any of its products or used the term ?dating ring? on its Web site. Unfortunitly for the company, they did use the term in the content of their ad.

This ruling makes the practice of going after your competitors name very costly now. The issues as I see it may become the inability to use common terms that the causal user may search by, where they do not even know it is a trademark. In this case illustrated, the term, ?dating ring? seems rather innocent to me. I had no idea there was even a company with that name. The law provides protection for companies name as it is used in commerce. However, when a company chooses such a general term for a name and does not have a large presence in the economy or even in the specific industry it conducts business, and then it seems unfair to require every company bidding on key words to conduct a trademark search for each and every term they will purchase. This type of investigation can prove to be most costly, where it is a standard practice in the P.P.C (pay per click) world to buy upwards of two to three thousand terms know as long tail terms, to bring in as many visitors as possible. The goal is of course to make a sale, collect information or what ever the desired conversion for the site may be. However, just because someone uses their web site in commerce and has purchased a term, that has a very plain or simple meaning, is not evidence that such a person or company intended to violate a small unknown companies trademark.

This article was written by Michael Goldstein for the Law Office of Goldstein and Clegg, a writters of the E-legal Lawyer Blog.

How To Avoid Legal Trouble From Trademark Infringement When You Buy A Domain Name

So you have a hot idea for a website, or maybe you want to capitalize on a hot new product that has just been released. There are some things that you will want to know first before you get yourself in a lot of hot water.

Choosing a domain name isn't really rocket science but it is very important. You want to choose something that is as short as possible, easy to pronounce and remember for marketing purposes, and if at all possible you want to get your main keywords in the domain name. All that aside, you also have to be careful that you don't step on the toes of a person or company who may be inclined to sue you.

For example, judges have ruled against domain name squatters in every case where they registered a celebrity's name. They will also rule against companies that infringe upon other companies. A good case in point would be the case a couple of years ago between the World Wrestling Federation and the World Wildlife Foundation. The World Wrestling Federation called itself the "WWF", put up a website at wwf.com, and the World Wildlife Foundation filed a trademark infringement suit against them. The Wildlife Foundation won because they had been in existence for many years before the wrestling firm and therefore the World Wrestling Federation had to change its name to World Wrestling Entertainment. Obviously this cost them a great some of money to change their name that appeared on millions of marketing products all over the world as well as the expense they had put up on their website and online marketing.

Another more recent issue that is still ongoing is the battle between Apple and the V.O.I.P. product "iphone" from Cisco. Apple announced they would be bringing a product to market called the Apple iPhone to go along with their other products that start with an "I". Cisco promptly filed for injunctive relief and as of this writing the issue is unresolved.

There are a few basic guidelines that will help keep you out of trouble when you are choosing a domain name so you don't run into legal trouble from violating someone?s trademark. Let's take a look at them.

First off you need to realize that a name that is used to identify a particular service or product is a recognized trademark. Trademarks that are deemed to be suggestive and memorable are granted protection by both state and federal law.

A confliction of trademarks occurs when one trademark is in conflict with another and the deployment of both is probably going to be confusing to customers or would be customers concerning the company's products or services. As I illustrated above, when the legal issue is with a later user of a trademark, the law rules that the first commercial user of the trademark is the legal owner and is therefore given protection. The loser will be forced to cease using the trademark and may even be compelled to pay damages to the original owner, particularly if it is determined that they were malicious in their intent.

The smart thing to do is to consult a trademark lawyer and have them check out your idea for a domain name before you invest too much in developing and marketing it.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Beach, Florida. Find more about this as well as intellectual property attorneys at http://www.focusonip.com

US Trademark Law

US trademark law was presented in 2002 with the issue of trademark dilution and the question of how to prove it.

Trademark law has sought to protect not just the company and the products that it produces, but consumers and their interest in purchasing a product with consistent quality. Permitting a company to take advantage of a well known product and benefit from its famous name hurts not just the company with the famous name, but the consumer who mistakenly purchases the product believing it is the famous brand. One problem lies in the fact that there are different types of consumers. There are consumers that are product savvy and would not confuse two similar products, but there are unsophisticated consumers who will undoubtedly confuse the two. An actual harm requirement hurts the unsophisticated consumer by requiring consumer confusion before the famous brand can ask for an injunction pursuant to the Federal Trademark Dilution Act. From the time of the Industrial Revolution trademarks have been important to commerce. Marks were used to identify a manufacturer?s product and to differentiate it from other products in the market. Consumers would rely on these marks to indicate where particular products came from. Congress?s first attempt at federal trademark legislation in 1870 failed as it was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1879. It was determined by the court that Congress was overstepping its authority granted in the commerce clause of the Constitution. Congress adopted a federal registration statute in 1881, with no mention of interstate commerce. It applied only to commerce with Indian tribes and foreign countries. Additionally, prior to 1905 it was required that the junior mark must not only bear a similar mark, but it must be in direct competition with the senior mark in order to seek an injunction. If a consumer, who relied on a trademark as a product identifier, intended to purchase the senior mark?s product and mistakenly purchased the junior mark?s product, the senior mark lost profits and the consumer purchased something they did not intend to purchase.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

The article was produced by the writer of masterpapers.com. Sharon White is a 5-years experienced freelance writer and a senior manager of APA format term papers services support team. Contact her to get art history term papers tips and business research paper.

 

Patents ? How To

So you have an idea or design that you think no one else has ever had. You want to move forward on the idea, but you also don?t want anyone to copy your idea. What do you do? You need a patent.

You have heard of patents. You have an idea of what a patent is. But what protection does a patent really give you? How much does it cost? How long does it last? How do I know if someone already received or applied for a patent like the one I want to apply for? How do I apply for a patent? Should I hire a patent attorney?

In this article I will try to help you answer those questions and offer a little more insight into the whole patent application process, including how to research patents to see if there are ideas already patented that are similar to yours.

The first thing you need to do is define your idea onto paper. Use as much detail as possible. You are more likely to receive a patent when you include a lot of detail and avoid anything that is vague or too broad in concept.

Once you have done this, go to http://www.uspto.gov Click the link, on the left at the writing of this article, which says patents. You are not ready to apply for your patent yet, so scroll down to where it says, ?Online Patent Searches?.

You will have two options there. One reads ?Issued Patents?, and the other reads ?Published Applications?. You will be researching both, but begin with the most important, which is ?Issued Patents?.

Use the link there that reads, ?Advanced Search?. Type in all the terms you can think of that relate to what you want to patent. Use the option that reads, ?1976 to present?, as anything patented before that date will not matter in most cases.

Search the headlined results for anything that looks like it might be similar to your idea for a patent. Click those links that apply to you. Look at the way it is formatted as well as look to see if your idea is exactly like the idea that already has a patent issued for it.

The reason I said to take note of the format in which the issued patent is displayed is for you to look at the way you wrote down the notes of your own idea and compare them. Try to format the description of your idea similar to that of a patent that is already issued. Make sure you include all the same type of information they have formatted into their patent.

If you find someone else has already received a patent that is too similar to your idea, you have just saved yourself a $215, (at the writing of this article), patent application fee.

If you do not find any issued patents that are like the idea you wish to patent, then go back to the page that had the two options, ?Issued Patents? and ?Published Applications?. Now click Published Applications, advanced search and repeat the process of searching for ideas that are similar to yours.

If you find one that is exactly like your idea, keep in mind that the first application for that patent will be granted over the newer one. It does not mean you cannot apply for it. If you can improve on your idea, then go ahead and apply. If their application is turned down for some reason like lack of detail, etc., your patent could still be issued.

If you do not find an applied for patent, then you can proceed to apply for a patent on your idea. The research part of the patent process is over. Go back to http://www.uspto.gov/ebc/index.html where you clicked on ?Online Patent Searches? before and click on ?Basic Initial Filing?.

Fill in the fields for your name and email address, then choose the type of patent you are applying for. If you are not sure of the type of patent to apply for, go back to the home page at http://www.uspto.gov and look for the search feature at the top of the page and type in each type of patent with the word definition after it.

That search feature will produce results pages of documents only. In those documents you will find answers to any questions you may have about different types of patents.

If you are sure of the type of patent you wish to apply for, then proceed through the pages. The instructions are very simple. Good luck! I hope this article has helped you learn how to research and apply for a patent!
Chuck Crawford is an established webmaster interested in various topical research. If you would like more info on Patents, please visit his website at http://patents.thegiftedone.com This article may be reprinted freely as long as all links remain active. Affiliate Website Design Articles.PN Article Science

An Introduction to Trademarks

In marketing, there is a particular strategy known as branding. In many ways, trademarks are designed to protect your brand from use by others.

An Introduction to Trademarks

A trademark is a form of intellectual property. Intellectual property is owned by the person or business creating it. With practically all forms of intellectual property, however, you have to take steps to formally notify the world of your property and protect it.

A trademark is a distinctive mark used to identify a product, company, service or device. When you think about it, you are very familiar with trademarks. At the risk of being sued to the high heavens, the following are trademarks: Coca Cola, Pepsi, Google, EBay and Toyota. Each of these words mean something to you and are readily identifiable with a product or service in your mind. When you think of EBay, you immediately think of an online auction site that was originally created so the owner's girlfriend could trade Pez dispensers [true]. When you think of Toyota, you think of cars. This is the power of brand recognition and trademarks are used to protect them.

A trademark is a powerful thing when it comes to the law. If you obtain a trademark, it is binding nationwide and others are not allowed to infringe upon it in an effort to swipe your customers or confuse the public. With your mark, you can sue to stop the infringement and recover monetary damages suffered. Basically, a trademark is a hammer for stopping nefarious conduct cold.

To obtain a trademark, you must have patience, patience and more patience. The mark is obtained through the Patent and Trademark Office. It is a very slow process. You or your attorney do a search to make sure are not in conflict with any previous marks. You then file an application and begin waiting. Within 8 weeks, the Patent and Trademark Office will send you a notification indicating they acknowledge receiving your application. Just receiving it! You will then wait another 6 months or so to hear if the application is accepted. Often you will receive correspondence asking for clarification or raising a problem. You then provide a response and wait. Months will pass. Eventually, the back and forth will come to final result. If your trademark application is accepted, it will be published and you are protected. The process is so lengthy that it is not uncommon for it take well over a year for the application to be approved. In short, you are going to need a lot of patience.

While obtaining a trademark can take forever, it is well worth the effort. Once you have it, you can keep competitors and others from using the trademarked term you worked so hard to establish. Gerard Simington is with FindAnAttorneyForMe.com - an online trademark attorney directory