smar(tm)ark® trademark newsletter from Erik Pelton

November 2018

This week as we celebrate Thanksgiving, I have much to be thankful at work. I will soon be marking the start of my 20th year helping businesses protect and build bold brands. Working with and advising clients from across the country and around the world is still fun and engaging and rewarding every single day; watching clients grow and expand serve their customers brings much joy. I am also thankful for the opportunities to mentor law students and to teach other lawyers about trademarks.

I hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.

Benefits of Registration at the USPTO

Having a registered trademark with the USPTO pays many dividends; the USPTO will automatically refuse registration of subsequent marks that are likely likely to cause confusion. In addition, businesses and lawyers investigating new names can find the registration in the database. These actions often protect the brand and avoid conflicts - and the trademark registrant that benefits may never even know when or how many times they occurred.

Website trademark and copyright issues

On a recent podcast episode, I answered some common questions about protecting website content and domain names.

Play podcast

Bold Branding: Rocket City Trash Pandas

A new minor league baseball team coming to Huntsville, Alabama chose a bold brand name - the Trash Pandas (aka raccoons). The response has been tremendous, especially on social media, and the team is already selling a lot of merchandise - even though their first game won't be until spring of 2020! Choosing a great brand name isn't easy - but building buzz for a business without one is even harder.

I was recently featured on the Lawyerist podcast, talking about client service and how I started and grew my practice.

Episode #196: Small-Firm Profile, with Erik Pelton

If there are any topics or issues you would like to see covered here, let us know!

-------------------------------------------------------

This publication has been prepared for the general information of clients and friends of the firm. It is not intended to provide legal advice with respect to any specific matter. Under rules applicable to the professional conduct of attorneys in various jurisdictions, it may be considered advertising material.