Jun 23 2009
straight talk on trademarks: love it.
Stan Abrams recently did a great post at China Hearsay about trademark registration, which piggybacks on Dan’s post at CLB. So why am I so enamored with this post? Because Stan is saying something that so many attorneys wish we could say to our clients. Not because we hate our clients, but because sometimes it’s easier to give the straight talk rather than give “professional sounding” advice.
I compiled key parts of Stan’s post after the jump.
I know that times are tough and that legal budgets have been slashed. I don’t really care, but I am aware of this. But in many cases, we are really talking about a few hundred dollars to register a mark. Sure, if you want additional coverage for additional marks or for more products and services, or if you need to file in multiple jurisdictions, this can end up being very expensive. For many small start-ups, though, a single registration in one or two jurisdictions is all that’s necessary for the first year or so.
All those poverty stricken start-up guys out there are now saying “A few hundred dollars? That’s real money when you are building a company from scratch.”
To which I reply: bullshit. It’s one thing to say that in your opinion, you don’t feel that a trademark is all that valuable to your business. I can accept that. But to tell me that a few hundred bucks will result in your eating dog food? Sorry, I don’t believe it.
I don’t know if I’d come out quite as strong, but frankly speaking, what Stan is saying here is some good common sense. In the U.S., a TM registration is $325 per class. It’s not much money. Sometimes, I wonder why people don’t register: (1) their brand as a wordmark, (2) their slogan as a wordmark, (3) their logo without words, and (4) their logo with brand. I mean really, we’re talking about $1,300 if you do it yourself. And as I agree with Dan, I recommend going with an attorney… my old firm used to do TMs for a flat rate of $800 each, so that’s only $3,200. It’s not that much!
Anyways, I don’t want to preach to the choir too much. But really, TMs are a worthwhile investment. I rarely say that about legal fees, but TMs really are worth their weight in gold. Consider them strongly, and do it right the first time if you can.
Right, but the point of my post was that it is oftentimes a huge mistake to do US trademarks yourself or without a qualified attorney. And I am saying this even though my firm does NO US trademark work. I have seen far too many people completely mess up their trademarks in the US by trying to do them alone. As for China, it’s impossible to do it alone, even if you are able to read Mandarin….
Hey this is a very interesting article!