So you’ve protected your trademark in the USA – nice work! But you have longer-term aspirations to take your business abroad. What are some things you should be thinking about now, or actions you should be taking?
First, think about your long term brand goals. Once your goals are clear, take steps to understand the costs of global protection, and make efficient tradeoffs between those costs and maximizing protection. Continue reading “Global Brand Protection – A 50,000 Foot View”
It was a mere 43 years ago, in 1972, when Steely Dan first mused “times are hard/you’re afraid to pay the fee/so you find yourself somebody/who can do the job for free.” The “somebody” in Steely Dan’s hit song, appropriately titled “Dirty Work,” was almost certainly not a reference to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (in fact, it likely had a more subtle, less appropriate meaning), but the reference could apply nonetheless. How does one let the PTO do their trademark enforcement “dirty work? By filing a letter of protest, of course.
Continue reading “Our (Sort Of) Secret Weapon: Letters of Protest”
