Trademark Registration

Trademark registration is not a quick and simple process. Instead, trademark registration can take months or even years. Trademark registration can also be extremely expensive. There are several steps to trademark registration and any individual or business looking to obtain a registered trademark should educate themselves with the process before starting it. A registered trademark can be widely used by individuals and businesses in order to identify themselves, their products, their service or all of the above. Although it is an expensive process and can be difficult, there are a plethora of examples that prove it can be worth the time and money.

• A registered trademark can be a big reason for a company’s success. This is especially true with companies that either sell food and beverages in a retail environment or in restaurants. The Pepsi, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, and Gatorade logos are all great examples of how powerful a registered trademark can be.

• The entertainment industry is probably the best example of the how a registered trademark can attract people to the owner’s purpose. Most successful band have a logo that identifies the band. These logos are usually registered trademarks and are owned by the band or their management. The Rolling Stones tongue as well as The Grateful Dead’s skull have become iconic logos. These registered trademarks are used on posters, clothes, coffee cups, stuffed animals and almost anything you can imagine. Recently the fashion world has taken older band’s logos and used them to sell products. For example, a current fashion fad has companies putting The Rolling Stones tongue and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon logos on worn out T shirts to make them look vintage. Many people who buy these T shirts may have never heard any of the band’s music. However, the trademarks are so popular and iconic that the shirts sell.

• Registered trademarks are a big part of the sports industry. Every professional sports team has a logo which is a registered trademark of the association they belong to. For example, the wide white “G” inside of the dark green oval with a yellow outline is the official logo of the Greenbay Packers. This logo is a registered trademark of the National Football League. Sports logos are also used on virtually anything that they can be printed on, from underwear to blankets, stickers to toothbrush holders, carpets to coffee mugs and everything in between.

Trademark registration can cost a lot of money and take a lot of time. However, the success of these examples are great evidence that registered trademarks can be extremely beneficial to an individual or business. Logos are the sole reason why so many products and services have become successful.

Trademark Attorneys

All businesses who have a registered trademark or are seeking to obtain one should have a trademark Lawyer Trademark attorneys are a necessity to any individual, business and legal organizations. If a trademark has been obtained with out a trademark attorney, it is in the best interest of the party to hire a trademark attorney immediately. If a party is seeking to acquire a trademark, a trademark attorney will make the process much smoother and easier. Trademark attorneys have studied trademark law extensively and are experts in the field.

• Trademark Attorney go to law school just like any other type of attorney. Also like other attorneys, it is difficult for trademark attorneys to get a position at a well established law firm right after they graduate law school. Many trademark attorneys will go through further extensive studying to learn more about trademark and copyright law.

• A trademark attorney will work with their clients in order to suggest and select what the trademarks will be. The trademark attorneys will then file and peruse the application in order to receive a registered trademark. A trademark attorney will also coach their client and advise where and when the registered trademark should or should not be used. One of the more challenging aspects to being a trademark attorney is dealing with possible violations of trademark law. This is where their years of studying trademark and copyright law really come into use. A registered trademark cannot be used by any other party without the permission of the registered trademark’s owner. It can be an easy black and white violation where another party was attempting to benefit from using an already registered trademark that is not theirs. However, there can be cases that are not that obvious. For example, an individual will use a registered trademark on their personal website and if prosecuted, they can argue the claim that the first amendment and right to free speech allows them to do this. In this type of scenario, it becomes a more difficult situation.

Trademark attorneys play an essential role in protecting individuals and businesses from copyright infringement. Without a trademark attorney, keeping a registered trademark from being used would be near impossible. Furthermore, without a trademark attorney, it can be a very difficult process to obtain a registered trademark. Average individuals are not aware of current copyright and trademark laws. This is why trademark attorneys are required to go through extensive schooling. Law school equips attorneys with the knowledge and tools they need in order to uphold the law in anyway necessary.

Barack Obama

Trademark characteristics of a political figure can be very important during elections. Negative trademarks and mannerisms can steer voters away from a candidate. There are many people who believe that the trademark characteristics of Barack Obama helped him get elected to President of The United States. These trademarks included several quotes and slogans as well as trademark facial expressions and other mannerisms. These trademarks gave Barack Obama an extremely positive aura that made so many American citizens go crazy simply over his presence and existence. Obama supporters became similar to fans of the rock band Beatles in terms of people screaming, crying and in many cases passing out just because they were seeing him live and in person.

• Whoever was responsible for creating slogans for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign delivered several that are still being used a year and three months after he won the election. “Yes we can” is arguably one of the best political campaign slogans of all time. At the time of the presidential race, our country was and still is involved with two wars, we were in the worst recession since the great depression and unemployment numbers were rising quickly. The trademark slogan inspired Americans to think that despite our current challenges, we can and we will overcome our problems and enjoy prosperity in this country again. Another trademark from Barack Obama’s campaign was “Change We Can Believe In”. This was a powerful slogan that stood out from his other trademarks. The overwhelming majority of Americans did not approve of President George W. Bush by the end of his presidency. Many Americans went as far as to call him the worst president in our nation’s history. To the majority of Americans, President Bush’s promise to make our country a better place seemed to be a lie. He took office during a record surplus and left with record deficits. He started a war that many Americans feel was unjustified and did not put forward a plan to pay for it. He promised to keep government small but seemed to grow government more than any other president in recent history. “Change we can believe in” worked so well because it was what our country wanted to here and believe. These trademarks kept Americans hopeful of the future.

Barack Obama’s trademark mannerisms were a big part of his positive public perception as well. His signature smile that seemed to reach from ear to ear was incredibly contagious. Barack Obama always seemed to not only shake hands with everyone he came in contact with, but would give them a nice pat on the back similar to what President Clinton would do. A candidate for President of The United State must maintain a positive image in order to earn the country’s confidence. Inspirational slogans and respectful gestures will also help a candidate gain the country’s trust. President Barack Obama still continues to do these things.

Trademark Laws

There are millions of companies in The United States and many of them own registered trademarks. A trademark is any sort of specific image that is put on products or property to prove ownership by the person, business or organization that owns the trademark. Trademark laws protect the trademark owners from another party stealing or using their trademark in any way shape or form. Trademark laws are strict and there is zero tolerance when it comes to using a registered trademark.

A trademark can be taken away from its owner if the courts find that it is not being used properly. Trademark laws suggest that after a trademark is officially registered, rightful ownership of that trademark is based on identification. If a individual or business is constantly using their trademark to identify themselves on their products or property, than trademark law allows the owner to maintain ownership. However, if courts find that an owner of a registered trademark is allowing other parties to use their trademark, trademark law allows a judge to remove ownership of that particular trademark. If a party does not care about the status of their trademark and whether or not it is being used to identify the owning party or in any other way, than trademark laws permit the right of courts to take the trademark away.

Trademark law also allows ownership of a trademark to be removed if the trademark becomes too generic. A specific case where that happened was when a company lost it’s right to own it’s own word. Cellophane was originally the name of a specific type of clear plastic paper. However, over time, the trademark word cellophane started being used for all types of that clear plastic wrapping. Eventually trademark law allowed that trademark to be taken away from it’s original owner because the word became too generic.

Similar to the goals of copyright law, trademark law declares ownership and gives rights to its legal owner. Trademark law has forced a lot of law suits over right and wrongful uses of certain trademarks. Many professional organizations such as sports teams and music bands as well as large companies such as banks have had many law suits filled by and against them due to trademark laws. These laws are what protect the rights of their owners. These laws have been interpreted in many different ways because of debate on what is wrongful use of a trademark and what is rightful use of a trademark. Lawyers on both sides have interpreted these laws in abstract and ambiguous ways. This is why we have judges.