Trademark: Legal Care for Your Business & Product Name

Protect the marks that mean everything to your business.

Trademarks – the names and symbols that identify your business, brand and products in the marketplace –are important assets that you need to choose carefully, then vigilantly defend. You can protect:
business names product names product packaging logos slogans domain names anything that identifies your company, product or service! With Trademark, you get the most up-to-date information you need to defend your creations. Learn how to: choose marks that competitors can't copy search for other marks that might conflict with yours register a name or other mark protect and maintain your marks' legal strength understand and resolve disputes outside the courtroom Thoroughly updated, the 8th edition of Trademark provides the most current information on domain names, changes to trademark statutes and case law, and the latest registration processes.Amazon.com: Names, logos, and other unique corporate identifying marks are the true calling cards of any business, and the third edition of Trademark: Legal Care for Your Business & Product Name, by attorneys Kate McGrath and Stephen Elias, explains in an easy-to-understand fashion how to choose these vital assets properly and then protect them diligently. Revised to reflect changes that have come about because of the advent of cyberspace, it offers clear instructions on initial selections, searches to ensure availability, state and federal registration procedures, correct use, and adjudication of any disputes that result. Summary: Step by step trademark applicationRating: 5I needed a book that not only explained trademarks, the different types and rules and regulations, but also up-to-date step-by-step instructions on how to apply for one. This book was perfect - even has current screenshots from the US gov trademark website. I read the book in 2 evenings, followed the instructions, and currently have a pending trademark. Saved me over a thousand bucks in legal fees if I had a lawyer do it - and it's so simple, if you just have a little knowledge which this book provides. Well worth the very minor cost. Highly recommended.Summary: It's all about first use.Rating: 4The book helped me learn several key things about marks [names]. (1) Be the very first one to use your mark. If you don't know that you are the first one then the book will help you get started with your research. If you aren't the first one to use your mark then someone else may have superior rights and sue the heck out of you. Federal or State registration is fairly important to protect your mark but is secondary in the big scheme of things because it's all about first use. (2) Fighting somebody who is using your mark that has a lot more money than you is probably a losing deal in the long run. (3) You don't need a lawyer to register your mark. (4) If your mark has the look of or sounds a lot like another person's mark you may be in big trouble. The book is more about how to find and keep a valid mark than about "legal care for your business and product name." The book is very helpful about the Federal registration process, especially about the proper use of disclaimers. The book falls a little short in exactly how to register your mark internationally, before or after registering in the U.S.Summary: Good reference book for the rest of us.Rating: 5Nolo Press once again did not disappoint me. I was looking for basic information about the Trademark process and they provided a description in "plain-English" that walked me through the process, defined terms, even offered some advice on how to handle disputes. Good reference for us non-lawyers!Summary: Good Introduction for the Non-ProfessionalRating: 5This book is an excellent introduction to the concepts of trademarks. It's in its seventh edition, so it's been around long enough to get errors worked out and up to date enough to reflect the latest legal changes. This book is a good introduction to trademark law. It seems to fit into two categories. If you're working for a big company (or a company that wants to grow big) use this for its information value and then go get professional trademark help from a specialist attorney. If you're a little company like me, this is probably all that you need. For a dozen years I've owned the domain name […]. I got a nasty letter from the attorney for Doubleday Book Clubs saying that I was infringing on their domain name of […] and that they wanted me to stop. I wrote back to them and said that I wasn't infringing because I didn't run a book club, my pages didn't look at all like theirs, etc. I never heard from them again. Mr. Elias, if you happen to read this, in your next edition, I'd like to see you expand Chapter 2 on domain names. They haven't replaced trademarks, but are becomming more and more important. Summary: A VERY HANDY REFRENCE AND OVERVIEW A GOOD STARTING POINT.Rating: 4To my knowledge, the best, simple, handy reference for Trademark available. It's very useful in planning and getting an overview. I give the book a 4 because anyone who can take the complexities and vagaries of legalese and make a useful book deserves it. I can not give them a 5 because they did not (and to be fair perhaps could not) address more of the vagaries of conflicting use and claims of trademark - perhaps that is another book. Very good overall, you won't be dissatisfied especially if used in conjunction with further state and web research.