Trademarks - An Exercise In Patience

Trademarks are a form of intellectual property for a person or business. To protect your mark, you always should formally trademark it. This brings us to the subject of patience.

Trademarks - An Exercise In Patience

A mark is simple a distinctive name, brand or whatever for your person or business. At the risk of being sued to high heaven, the name "Google" is a trademark for a certain search engine. When it is mentioned or you read about it, you know exactly what it refers to. As a business becomes successful, it will almost always want to trademark its brand, logo or whatever.

Obtaining a trademark is not particularly difficult to do. The process is controlled by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The "PTO" is an agency falling under the control of the United Stated Department of Commerce. Fascinating, eh?

Filing a trademark application with the PTO is an interesting ordeal. From a technical stand point, it is fairly simple. You can search online to see if anyone else has already obtained the trademark you are after. If not, you can fill out an application and file it online. The PTO will assign an attorney to it. He or she will either approve the application, send correspondence asking you to clarify some aspect or outright reject your application. While this sounds straightforward, there is one aspect that turns the process into an annoying one - time.

The trademark office is a government agency. As such, one can expect a certain amount of lag time in getting things done. The trademark office, however, takes this to the extreme. When you first file your trademark application, you can expect to wait for up to two months before you receive anything. When you do, it will only be a postcard verifying that the office has RECEIVED your application. Yes, it takes two months for this.

At this point, you need to have a lot of patience. Roughly six months will pass before you hear anything else on your application. It could be longer. The delay means nothing in relation to the merits of your application. It just takes forever. If you finally receive correspondence accepting your application, you will need to wait another month for it to be published and then become approved. If the trademark office wants clarification on your application, you will have thirty to sixty days to send it in. Once you do, it is time to sit and wait some more - often two to four months. It can be maddening. The process can often take more than a year to play out.

Whether you attempt to obtain a trademark on your own or use an attorney, it is important to understand what you are getting into. Don't worry when you do not receive anything for four or five months. This is standard operating procedure at the PTO. Sooner or later, they will get around to it.

Gerard Simington is with FindAnAttorneyForMe.com - an online trademark attorney directory.

US Trademark Searches

Trademarks are names, phrases, logos or images used to uniquely identify your company and your products and services. Because trademarks are used in businesses, there are rights you can claim to protect your company, and there are governing bodies that regulate the use of your trademark. In the United States of America, the governing body called United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the governing body that makes your trademark and patented product unique. They guarantee that no other company can carry the same name, logo or product without proper approval from you.

Before any company is given approval for a trademark application, the USPTO scrutinizes the application, making sure that the trademark filing is unique and is in no way identical to any existing trademarks. Their primary task is to reject an application if there is the slightest possibility that any copyright infringement is or can be violated. In fact, a few years ago, a 17 year old boy named Mike Rowe registered and operated the web site www.mikerowesoft.com.

When the software giant, Microsoft, discovered this, they filed to move that the site be shut down immediately. The courts granted in favor of Microsoft, stating that it would be damaging and confusing to the software company. Another well-publicized lawsuit over a URL address was between World Wildlife Foundation with the site www.wwf.org and the World Wrestling Federation bearing the site address www.wwf.com. The former sued the latter to drop the URL address stating that the practices of the former are detrimental to the image of the wildlife foundation. The World Wildlife Foundation was granted favor by the courts and World Wrestling Federation had to change their name to World Wrestling Entertainment and refrain from using the acronyms WWF.

Trademark Search provides detailed information on Trademark Search, Free Trademark Searches, Online Trademark Searches, US Trademark Searches and more. Trademark Search is affiliated with Free Patent Searches.

How Do You Get a Trademark?

While some individuals choose to hire attorneys to walk them through the process of applying for a trademark, others choose to use a trademark research firm, which can cost thousands of dollars less. It is important to remember when hiring someone to do your research that they not only search through Federal and State trademark records for name similarities, but also Common-Law listings.

Many people are under the impression that they can perform their own comprehensive search utilizing the help of search engines, in addition to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (herein referred to as the USPTO). While it is a good idea to become familiar with the USPTO website, individuals sometimes believe that the data they collect from this website is truly representative of the trademarked names which are currently being used. The USPTO?s website is never a thorough way to search the name you?re hoping to trademark! The website is not updated regularly, and in addition to this, you can ONLY search Federal trademark records on the USPTO, NOT State trademark records OR Common-Law records!

It is imperative to search Federal and State trademark records AND Common-Law records because it is the only way to ensure that your search was done in a comprehensive manner. Federal and State trademarks records are looking at businesses that have either a federally registered trademark, or those who have registered a state trademark. When these records are searched, any federal or state trademarks that are either pending or registered will be visible to the researcher. Common-Law records examine those businesses who are in business but not have necessarily filed for a Federal or a State trademark. When Common-Law records are searched, thousands upon thousands of newspaper articles, city business listings, periodicals, incorporation listings, DBAs, LLCs, etc. are examined for any name similarities. Although such businesses do not have a trademark, they might have "first-use rights" to the name. This could mean that they still have ownership over the name within their trade area AND the capacity to take legal recourse if they determine that your name and business is the same, or similar.

If the research proves clear, the next step is to prepare and file the application. This can be done by anyone; however, the USPTO is very particular about how the application is prepared, so it's best to leave it to professionals.

Three Steps -- Federal & State trademark search, US National Common-Law search and Application Preparation & Filing ? and the Trademark could be YOURS!

Marit Lee is a Researcher for TradeMark Express. Since 1992, TradeMark Express has met the needs of their clients with comprehensive research, application preparation, attorney referrals and trademark consultation. For further details, please visit us on the web at TradeMark Express or call Marit directly at 800.550.1520.

WikiPatents Enables Community Patent Review

"Bad patents" cost infringers--and, ultimately, all consumers--millions, if not billions, of dollars every year. Yet, "good patents" often go unrecognized. Until now, there has been no web site encouraging large-scale, organized public comment to clarify the true merits and value of U.S. patents.

WikiPatents.com, officially launched August 28, 2006, addresses these problems. WikiPatents' goal is to strengthen the patent system by clarifying whether a patent really protects a new idea and how much that idea is worth. The United States Patent & Trademark Office is very effective at reviewing patents given its limited time and resources. WikiPatents provides patent examiners at the Patent Office and the entire patent community another powerful resource that will add reliability, clarity, and efficiency to the patent process.

WikiPatents is a free-access web site and database containing millions of patents that allows the interested public to discuss, rate, and vote on published patents and, soon, pending patent applications. Most notably, users can add prior art references (publications that closely relate to and predate the patented technology), as well as comment and vote on the relevancy of prior art. Users can also comment and vote on patent value, licensing, technical, and other issues for each patent.

WikiPatents seeks to become the crossroads where patent examiners, inventors, investors, patent attorneys, and litigants join to discuss the merits of patents and patent applications.

Peter Johnson and Kevin Hermansen are co-founders of www.WikiPatents.com - Community Patent Review, a new free-access web site and database that enables public commentary on published patents

Patent Me This, Batman

Copyright 2006 Find Your Prosperity.com

I believe there is creativity in every person and so, apparently, does Simon Cowell (or maybe he knows it makes great TV!). The crazies on American Inventor aside, I believe that people's creativity may may be suppressed, out of fear or embarrassment, or just undiscovered. But maybe you already knew that. Maybe you have a little workshop in your garage or in a corner of your apartment. Maybe you spend your free time tinkering around, trying to make a better mousetrap. Maybe you count yourself among the inventors, a rare breed of maverick that feels compelled to solve the most mundane of problems. And I, for one, thank you for being that kind of freak.

If you're going to be an inventor, though, it's crucial to protect your Intellectual Property from people who might try to steal your idea and your resulting profits. There are three types of patents currently granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. They are:

*Design Patents

*Utility Patents

*Plant Patents

Design and Utility Patents are the two most commonly applied for. As of the time of this writing, Design Patents are issued for a period of 14 years, and protect the design of a device, machine or process. For instance, you cannot patent a woman's purse. But if you've made substantial enough changes to it in terms of its structure and overall look, you may be granted a Design Patent.

A Utility Patent is granted for a period of 20 years, and governs the way a device, machine or process might be used. If significant improvements are made to the way a process, such as yoga or physical exercise, is used, it may be granted a Utility Patent.

Plant Patents protect new varieties of plants, which may be patently (sorry) obvious.

Some people choose to go through a patent attorney, and that can be very helpful for newbies. But if money is an issue, Design Patents are very easy to apply for, and the services of an attorney are not required. The typical cost of obtaining a design patent is approximately $400, which does not include an international patent search or technical drawings. An international patent search is necessary to make sure someone else has not yet patented your idea or design. Patent searches can be done in patent libraries, or through a patent searcher, who is likely to charge around $200-300 per search. Technical drawings are usually necessary, unless your product has been prototyped (at least one of them has to exist, in other words).

Applying for a patent provides "patent pending" or "patent applied for" status, usually in about six weeks. Much, if not all, of the process can be done online (www.uspto.gov), or easily with PatentWizard 2.0. Doing things this way allows you to seek out venture capital, if you want to start your own business and take care of manufacturing, or approach a licensing agent, if you'd prefer to farm out the manufacturing in exchange for a cut of units produced and sold.

Licensing is another issue, but suffice it to say that you will need a logbook to track the process of inventing your product. In the event of a challenge by the Patent Office, you need to have a record of drawings, sketches, ideas and random jottings that are dated along the way. Inventor's Place has a wonderful logbook that not only gives you the space you need to keep track of your invention's progress, but also gives encouragement and valuable tips that will save you money before you fork any more over to the government.

If you like your information straight and simple, Richard Levy's book will walk you through the entire patenting process, without the BS. As the inventor of the Furby, among 125 other products, he's got the goods to help you get started on the path to invention success!

I'm sure I'll thank you for it later.

For more stories like this, go to http://www.FindYourProsperity.com

Alyson Mead is founder of http://www.FindYourProsperity.com. In her 18-year career as an award-winning writer, she has published hundreds of articles in over 25 outlets, including Salon, AOL, MSN-NBC, BUST, New York Daily News, Bitch, The Sun, In These Times and more. She has received the Columbine Award for Screenwriting, the Roy W. Dean Filmmaking Grant, and a Writer's Digest Award.

A Patent Law Career

Is having a patent law career the perfect choice for you?

Did you know that you can have a career in the field of patent law without having a law degree?

Patent law is a career open to all biologists, chemists, engineers, computer scientists and many other science and technology professionals. Any individual with the proper science or engineering degree need only to pass the Patent Bar to become registered Patent Agents. That easy.

Upon becoming a Patent Agent, you can gain employment writing and prosecuting patent applications at law firms, technology transfer offices, biotech or engineering corporations, and government institutes. In addition to writing and prosecuting patents, a Patent Attorney can also litigate in patent infringement cases. From there, you may decide whether or not to go on to law school and pursue a career as a Patent Attorney.

What are the skills needed in a patent law career?

Patent law is the perfect field for many creative and talented individuals since it requires so many qualities to be successful.

There is also a people-oriented side to a career in patent law. This is especially seen when you compare the isolated lab environment that most scientists and engineers are used to.

Consider the fact that every inventor?s hopes and dreams is to ride on their invention. What will be your role in all this? You will be there every step of the way to help them achieve their goals. Although a great deal of interviewing and excellent communication is required in order to adequately learn what was invented and write a patent application for it. Just think of the good it will bring you both.

This brings us to the next point; to be a patent law practitioner, you must also have excellent writing skills. Drafting a quality patent application is a tedious work that requires the absolute best in written communication.

To practice a career in patent law is to have a never-ending thirst for knowledge. Take note that you will be right in the middle of a cutting edge research and development. This gives you the privilege of being exposed to new and exciting discoveries before anyone else.

What should you expect to make as a professional in the patent law?

This is the million-dollar question. How much will you be making if you have a career in patent law? The pay scale varies from $45,000 up to $250,000+ for Patent Practitioners and is determined by many factors.

First, if you are a scientist or engineer without a law degree you will be classified as a Patent Agent after you pass the Patent Bar Exam. But if you have a law degree and is already considered an attorney, you will be classified as a Patent Attorney upon passing the exam.

As a Patent Attorney with the same level of experience as a Patent Agent, you will typically earn the higher income because in addition to writing and prosecuting patents, you may also help protect patents in a court of law.

Second, your degree level will help determine your pay. If you have a Bachelor's degree in your particular area of expertise, you will therefore make less than someone with a Masters degree or a PhD.

Third, your experience level will make quite a big difference. Your previous positions will count when considering your salary. The number of years you have worked as an engineer or scientist will make a difference. The more experience you have, the more valuable you will be perceived by the company. The longer you are in the patent law career, the higher your pay will be as well.

Is patent law a good career to get into?

Many businesses in the field science and technology sectors regard patents as their lifeline. Therefore, gaining status as a registered Patent Practitioner can open many career doors for you.

Since research and intellectual property are intertwined, imagine the many career opportunities you would be presented with if you were trained in both areas. Moreover, as a scientist or engineer, most of the qualifications needed to achieve registration as a Patent Practitioner have usually already been met. Probably the only requirement you necessary is pass the Patent Bar Exam.

It may be a difficult hurdle. But in comparison to the time and money you already spent to become a scientist or an engineer, passing the Patent Bar Exam and getting a career in patent law will be something you can accomplish.

Dee Cohen is an author and website publisher. Visit us at Legal and Business Templates

Patent Call for a New Digital Rights Management System

Intellectual Property Rights is a key consideration in today's standardisation world and naturally the field of audio and video coding / decoding, such as MP3 and MPEG is no exception. Digital rights management is an additional key element in todays digital world.

The Digital Media Project (DMP) is a non-profit organization devoted to developing worldwide standards for music, video and other creative works that are digitally recorded and transmitted. Such standards allow the rights of creators to be compensated for their works, allow the public to fully enjoy the benefits of digital recordings, and allow other businesses to provide products and services consistent with these principles and the Digital Media Manifesto.

DMP was founded by Mr. Leonardo Chiariglione, who developed worldwide standards for digital audio and video coding, such as MP3 and MPEG, while chairing the working group of the International Standards Organization ISO/IEC. In April 2005, DMP produced a technical Specification for a Platform for Interoperable Digital Rights Management, for which it would be beneficial to establish a patent pool in order to have clear and acceptable licensing terms for the underlying patents. The standardization approved in 20045 refers in particular to portable audio and video devices (PAV)

One of the members of the Digital Media Project is helping set up the patent pool: Sisvel, S.p.A., a company with an international network specialized in licensing, with offices in Europe and subsidiaries in America and Asia, will arrange for a team of independent patent experts to evaluate patents that may be essential in this field.

Any company having related patents and wishing to participate in the patent pool is requested to submit patents to Sisvel for evaluation. The objective is to create a one-stop-shop licensing mechanism for intellectual property rights (IPR) that will help to standardize the digital media project, providing a clear view of the exposure to royalties relating to the standard.

SISVEL is a company active in the field of exploiting industrial and intellectual property rights. For instance Sisvel has the right to grant licenses for the use of several patent families concerning the MPEG Audio standard comprising the Mp3 standard. Contact: segretaria@sisvel.com for information.

Trademark Your Business - Lessons Learned

Small business owners learn many lessons the hard way - through the school of hard knocks. I recently experienced my own tough lesson concerning the importance trademarking my business name. Like many solo-entrepreneurs on a tight budget, the thought of trademarking my business name was not high on my priority list. Had I placed more importance on it, I might have saved myself some anxious moments, not to mention a few hundred dollars in attorney fees!

As a member of a couple different virtual assistant membership organizations, I often look with interest at other VA's business names and website URL's. One day I noticed a new member announcement for one of the groups and saw a listing for VA Office Solutions. Now this one hit a little too close to home for me - after all, my business name is VA Office Solution. I also noticed that she had a domain name to match.

Have you figured out my first mistake yet? I could have kicked myself for not purchasing the domain name, http://www.vaofficesolutions.com, which is so close to my own domain name of www.vaofficesolution.com. After all, even some of my own clients inadvertently add an "s" to the end of my business name in correspondence. I certainly didn't want people to look for my business on the Internet, and mistakenly find this other website! This could potentially be very confusing for both of us, especially considering we both operate similar businesses and conduct our business virtually, working with people all over the country.

Well the first thing I did was a little research on this domain name. I was able to find the owner and saw that the name had only recently been purchased, and had only been purchased for a one year period. This indicated to me that this was a new business, and she had only just started using this name.

Then next step was to get some legal advice. I had met an attorney who specializes in trademark law at a networking event so I gave her a call and asked to meet with her. I learned that I definitely had a good case, as I'd been using the trademark since 2001. Even though I had not formally registered the trademark with the USPTO (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office), I still had first use of the trademark, which gives me certain rights.

After meeting with the attorney, I decided that my first step should be filing my trademark with the USPTO (http://www.uspto.gov). Now this is something that I could do myself, without paying an attorney, but taking into consideration my own time constraints and her expertise, I decided to let her handle it for me. Also, since there would need to be a letter drafted to the trademark infringer after my trademark had been filed, I just felt more comfortable letting my attorney draft a letter that would be effective enough to get the infringer to stop using the trademark and take the website down.

So how did it all end? Well I got my trademark registered and we sent the letter to the trademark infringer. She agreed to stop using the trademark and took the website down. All in all, the entire process took about three months. I feel very lucky though, as I was able to find this infringer very soon after she opened her doors for business. By getting it done quickly, it should not have been devastating to her business and did not have an apparent affect on my business.

So what should you consider when deciding if you should trademark your business name? First you should conduct some research to make sure you're not infringing on someone else's trademark. You may be forced to stop using it if that's the case. If you decide to trademark your business name, then you must be prepared to enforce your mark. If you allow others to use the mark, then you can face abandonment and risk losing your own trademark. You should also consider the domain name issue. Do not make the mistake I did and let someone else snatch up a domain name that matches your trademark.

Be sure to visit the U.S. Patent and Trademark office at http://www.uspto.gov, and then visit my attorney Heidi Pliam's trademark website, Trademark Edge, at http://www.trademarkedge.com. And if you're looking for a good trademark attorney, be sure to give Heidi a call! Her contact information is on the website.

Jean Hanson is a Certified Professional Virtual Assistant. Discover how partnering with a virtual assistant will give you more time to do the things you love to do! Visit her at http://www.vaofficesolution.com. Jean is also the author of the eBook, Virtualize Your Business - http://www.virtualizeyourbiz.com