registering your business name...

lecchilo · 03-14-07, 01:23

I want to register/trademark a name for my business to use in the future but don't know how to go about doing it. Can an experienced professional here please PM me and let me know the process. Thanks

GregCavi · 03-14-07, 01:55

You most likely find how to do it here:

Cook County Clerk's Office | Business Name Registration

I know in Minnesota, it was something like 40 bucks to register the name.

Greg

brwill2005 · 03-14-07, 04:46

I think he is talking about a trademark rather than a local DBA license. In that case, I wold talk to a lawyer.

casinbonuscod · 03-14-07, 04:55

davekt · 03-14-07, 09:54

We got ourselves a Spammer.

lecchilo · 03-14-07, 10:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by brwill2005

I think he is talking about a trademark rather than a local DBA license. In that case, I wold talk to a lawyer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by davekt

We got ourselves a Spammer.

yes and yes... i'll talk to a lawyer, but any info on here will be helpful as well

kompressornsc · 03-15-07, 03:47

Put a 'TM' behind it and you're good to go as long as someone hasn't done it before. There is no reason to pay anyone to do anything-it doesn't matter. The key is to be consistent and always use the 'TM' to protect it. If you don't, it opens up the door for someone to take your name.
Only if you want a registered trademark do you need to apply for a TM. That can take anywhere from 2-5 years to get after you pay your fee (about $600).

lecchilo · 03-15-07, 01:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by kompressornsc

Put a 'TM' behind it and you're good to go as long as someone hasn't done it before. There is no reason to pay anyone to do anything-it doesn't matter. The key is to be consistent and always use the 'TM' to protect it. If you don't, it opens up the door for someone to take your name.
Only if you want a registered trademark do you need to apply for a TM. That can take anywhere from 2-5 years to get after you pay your fee (about $600).

what do you mean put a TM behind it? couldn't someone just do the same and say they did it first?

BlueZero · 03-15-07, 01:18

First the disclaimer... I am not a attorney. I have been looking into doing the same thing so this is my understanding.

If you are using the name in the day to day operations of your business, it is automatically trademarked. So you can put the like TM logo behind your name. If you want to put the R with the circle around it, meaning Rights Reserved. Then you need an attorney and a few years.

Hope that helps!

kompressornsc · 03-15-07, 02:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by lecchilo

what do you mean put a TM behind it? couldn't someone just do the same and say they did it first?

Yes they could. The simplest thing to do is take your logo and have it notarized to establish an origination date.
When I first started looking into establishing a new brand, I, like you, assumed it was some complicated process. It ain't. This isn't 100% foolproof, but to see if anyone else has trademarked it, take a look at United States Patent and Trademark Office Home Page , then run in through all the search engines you can think of, going deep into the results. That's not a guarantee that nobody uses it, but it's free. An ad agency would charge thousands of dollars for a search and a guarantee, but as a small business, you probably don't need to go to that extent. The above website also has all the information you need.

lecchilo · 03-16-07, 01:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by kompressornsc

Yes they could. The simplest thing to do is take your logo and have it notarized to establish an origination date.
When I first started looking into establishing a new brand, I, like you, assumed it was some complicated process. It ain't. This isn't 100% foolproof, but to see if anyone else has trademarked it, take a look at United States Patent and Trademark Office Home Page , then run in through all the search engines you can think of, going deep into the results. That's not a guarantee that nobody uses it, but it's free. An ad agency would charge thousands of dollars for a search and a guarantee, but as a small business, you probably don't need to go to that extent. The above website also has all the information you need.

thanks...i sent you a PM

getright · 03-18-07, 08:29

I don't thinik you can trademark something for "future" use. You need to be operating or they will not register the mark to you. Even if you just use a dba, you still should run a name search because if you are using someone else's mark then they can sue you.