Forming an LLC Is Not Easy: Business Names & Trademark Law
Over the years, this author has heard time and time again about how “easy” it is to form an LLC. “You can do it online yourself,” many say. “It just takes a few minutes and a few clicks and then you’re in business.” Sometimes free advice is worth far more than what one pays for […]
What Are the Potential Benefits to Filing a Federal Trademark Application?
In our last blog post about trademark law, we considered whether non-lawyers may act as representatives before the USPTO. After reading that post, you now understand that a trademark representative must be a licensed attorney or a person working on behalf of himself. Individuals who are not attorneys are not recognized to practice before the USPTO […]
Are There Laws or Regulations Pertaining to Who Can Provide Trademark Law Advice?
As a lawyer who often practices before the USPTO, I have been asked the question on occasion as to what qualifications a United States resident must possess to act as a trademark representative before said agency. The answer, in brief, is that a trademark representative must be a licensed attorney or a person pleading or […]
Description Meta Tags, Trademarks, and Fair Use
The Digital Revolution has made the presence of a website a sine qua non for a company’s relevancy and success. Website owners and webmasters working in competitive industries find themselves jockeying for position with respect to their websites’ rankings within search engine results pages. One technique they may use to achieve higher rankings concerns the […]
Be Careful When Selecting Domain Names
When a new company is being formed, founders should pay careful attention to Internet domain names. An Internet domain name is a unique address by which an Internet resource can be identified and found by a Web browser accessing the Internet. Well-known examples are “Amazon.com” and “Priceline.com”. Entrepreneurs must take into consideration the availability of […]
Trade Name Infringement
Blue Ribbon Feed Co., Inc. v. Farmers Union Cent. Exchange, Inc., 731 F.2d 415 (Cir. 1984) is a case in which a company vindicated its rights in its trade name and demonstrated that, under certain conditions, the user of a trade name is entitled to protection against infringement of that trade name in the same […]