The following is an edited transcript of my video Trademark Lessons from The Bear.
In the restaurant industry, there’s always some emergency, something going wrong. They discover mold. The fire detection system won’t work. Whatever it is, there’s always a fire, literally or figuratively to put out. In the world of protecting a trademark, there’s going to be fires from time to time, whether it’s a copycat that pops up; a hiccup during the application process; a hurdle from the examiner and the examination process—there’s always fires to put out.
In season 2, we learned a lot about how training and experience matters. I loved how Carmi sent several of his staff away for training to become experts and learn from others. I’ve been in the world of trademarks for 25 years. and I’m always still learning—going to trainings, conducting trainings, being both the student and the teacher. Training and experience matter.
The Feast of the Seven Fishes episode in season two is so riveting and so real. The world of trademarks can feature stress and drama. Whether it’s dealing with a refusal at the USPTO, having to go to court to defend yourself against an infringement claim, or to sue somebody else for an infringement claim, there can be a lot of stress and drama. However, registering your trademark and working with experienced counsel is going to help minimize the odds of that.
The restaurant world is also full of fun and excitement, and it’s the same in the world of trademarks. Getting that registration certificate, launching a new product or logo, using the ® symbol.
In restaurants, one has to expect the unexpected. In a trademark registration process, you have to expect the unexpected. It’s a long and winding road to trademark registration.
Finally, the end of season two features the grand opening of the new restaurant, and it’s full of tension and stress, but also so much joy. Seeing the customers’ reactions to the top quality service and top quality food that makes all of that hard work, all of that drama and stress so worthwhile. We can relate that to the world of trademarks. In the end, it’s the customers and clients for us that make it all so worthwhile. We take most of the drama and deal with it ourselves so that our clients don’t have to. They learn how to navigate the ups and downs and ins and outs and deadlines and issues with the trademark application process, with monitoring, with other aspects of their brand protection. We’re trying to provide that same great service to bring that same joy to our customers’ faces.
