Wednesday 13 May 2009

Brand Registration: Good For Business

The brand registration is the most important thing for an organization to have a better business prospective. It is basically the name that attracts buyers to buy products & services of the company. So, it is necessary for any organization to have a legal name through which it can represent itself in the market.

The brand registration is nothing but it is basically the other name of trademark registration. It is basically name, logo, alphabet, phrase, symbol or combination of all of this. By getting registered, the organization has the legal authority to use the name in selling & promoting goods & services in the market. Under this law, the organization gets the legal entity of the name, preventing others to use the same or the confusing name. If the other organizations use your registered name, then you can take legal action against them. There are several other characteristics that are associated with this registration. Some of the most prominent advantages are discussed below.

The most important benefit of brand registration is that it helps in promotion. It is basically the promotion that fetches buyers & consumers. If you have a registered name, then you can use it during ad campaign. By this, can easily attract buyers & make a name for your brand. It also helps in offering identity to the brand. As none other can use the same name, so your services & products can easily be distinguished from others. This provides flexibility to the consumers in choosing your unique brand.

The other attribute of brand name registration is that it equips you with the legal authority. By registering, you become the legal owner of the name & no other organization has the legal authority to use the same name. This protects your products & services from infringement. In this competitive scenario, sometimes competitors resort to cheap tactics. In order to tarnish the image of your organization, they sell fraudulent products & services. This cheap activity can easily be prevented with the help of the brand registration. If you find anyone engaging in this activity, then you have the legal power to take action against them.

One very vital merit of registering a brand is that it helps in spreading goodwill in the market. With this, buyers get full information related to the company & its products & services. This provides them with the feeling of confidence & they understand that the organization surely has a good reputation. This helps a lot in boosting the business.

From the above discussion, we can easily understand the importance of brand registration. This is surely the most potent tool that equips you with legal authority to use the name. This helps in growing confidence in the consumers & provide sufficient support in spreading goodwill in the market. So, this is essentially the most important aspect to have a healthy business.

Monday 13 April 2009

Brand Registration: Good For Business

The brand registration is the most important thing for an organization to have a better business prospective. It is basically the name that attracts buyers to buy products & services of the company. So, it is necessary for any organization to have a legal name through which it can represent itself in the market.

The brand registration is nothing but it is basically the other name of trademark registration. It is basically name, logo, alphabet, phrase, symbol or combination of all of this. By getting registered, the organization has the legal authority to use the name in selling & promoting goods & services in the market. Under this law, the organization gets the legal entity of the name, preventing others to use the same or the confusing name. If the other organizations use your registered name, then you can take legal action against them. There are several other characteristics that are associated with this registration. Some of the most prominent advantages are discussed below.

The most important benefit of brand registration is that it helps in promotion. It is basically the promotion that fetches buyers & consumers. If you have a registered name, then you can use it during ad campaign. By this, can easily attract buyers & make a name for your brand. It also helps in offering identity to the brand. As none other can use the same name, so your services & products can easily be distinguished from others. This provides flexibility to the consumers in choosing your unique brand.

The other attribute of brand name registration is that it equips you with the legal authority. By registering, you become the legal owner of the name & no other organization has the legal authority to use the same name. This protects your products & services from infringement. In this competitive scenario, sometimes competitors resort to cheap tactics. In order to tarnish the image of your organization, they sell fraudulent products & services. This cheap activity can easily be prevented with the help of the brand registration. If you find anyone engaging in this activity, then you have the legal power to take action against them.

One very vital merit of registering a brand is that it helps in spreading goodwill in the market. With this, buyers get full information related to the company & its products & services. This provides them with the feeling of confidence & they understand that the organization surely has a good reputation. This helps a lot in boosting the business.

From the above discussion, we can easily understand the importance of brand registration. This is surely the most potent tool that equips you with legal authority to use the name. This helps in growing confidence in the consumers & provide sufficient support in spreading goodwill in the market. So, this is essentially the most important aspect to have a healthy business.

Thursday 9 October 2008

Exploring The Benefits Of Trademark Filing

Having your trademark legally registered guarantees that no other individual or entity would be able to use it without your prior permission. And, if anyone uses it without seeking your approval then you can initiate legal proceedings against that individual or that organization. In fact, it is claimed that your ownership of the trademark is valid irrespective of the fact you register it or not. However, it is best to check regulations existing in your country in order to find out whether you can slap a trademark infringement lawsuit when your trademark is not registered. Today within the scope of the post we will explore the major benefits of Trademark Filing. Kindly read on to discover what these benefits are:

Trademark Registration And Its Various Benefits

A company trademark is often regarded as the most valuable asset of the company simply because it protects your company name or logo. If you are able to design a real unique trademark and register it then other companies would hardly be able to claim that you have infringed their trademark.Trademark Filing and registration basically help you achieve conclusive rights to use the trademark. Once it is registered, an official notice would be issued for your competitors which states that the particular mark belongs to you or your company so that there is no chance of others coming up with another confusingly similar trademark.

What more? If you are able to prove that someone else has infringed your trademark then you do have the right to receive triple damages and fees.

Benefits Of Hiring A Lawyer

Trademark Filling entails legal procedures. Check out the list of legal consultants offering services including Trademark Filing, registration and infringement services. It is very important to check out the background of the lawyers before hiring one. Make a check list of the factors which you should keep in view before getting an attorney on board, in this regard.

Check out the kind of experience the attorney or the firm has. The more experienced the lawyers are, the better adroit they would be in dealing with cases of diverse nature-complicated, less complicated or very simple.

Find out about the reputation enjoyed by them. This one remains an important part of your responsibility since you would not really want to settle for someone who does not have a good track record when it comes to dealing with such cases.

Check out the kind of services offered by the firm. Will they scale your requirements perfectly? For instance, you might as well looking for registration services while a particular firm is offering only filing services. Make sure you are checking out these details before initiating a long-term professional relationship with a firm or an attorney.

Tuesday 13 May 2008

Discover Important Things About Trademark Registration

Trademark registration is a very vital thing to protect the identity of the brand. By registering this, the organization becomes the legal owner of the name & as per law, no other person can use the similar or confusing name to sell its products & services. In this competitive scenario, this is essentially an important step for prosperous business.

Trademark is basically a name, phrase, symbol, logo or a combination of all of these. With its registration, the organization becomes the legal heir of the name & no other organization has the legal authority to use the similar name or phrase for selling its products & services. If the competitors do so, then you can bring them to book. There are several advantages of registering this.

Exclusive Rights

After registering the trademark, you become the legal owner of the slogan, logo or name. As per law, no other organization has the authority to use similar or confusing name to sell its products & services. If the competitors do so, then you can take legal action against them.

Prevent Infringement:

The world is competitive & many a times competitors resort to unhealthy competition. They sell their products & services on your brand name. If you have already registered your mark, then you can take legal action against them. This is certainly the most potent tool that helps in protecting your products & services from infringement.

Identity

The trademark provides legal identity to your brand. It helps buyers to distinguish among various brands that are available in the market. If you have a registered name, then you can go for promotion, thus generating a good revenue. This is essentially the most important tool that ensures good reputation in the market.

Goodwill

It is fact that every successful organization has a registered mark. It is important, owing to the fact that it helps in spreading goodwill among consumers. It is the tendency of the consumers to purchase things that have good promotion and organization can only do promotion, if they have a registered trademark.

Prevent Copying

If you are a successful brand, then various competitors use your name to sell their commodities & services. This is surely an illegal thing. By this, they sell their products on your goodwill in order to gain money from your name. Trademark registration protects your products, services & name from this copying. If the competitors do so, then by using your legal authority, you can take stern action against those who are using your name against your wishes.

Conclusion

Trademark Registration is an important tool to make the brand as well as protect products & services from infringement or fraud. If any organization wants to have a good fortune, then it should apply for the same. It serves various purposes like it helps in promoting business, spreading goodwill, legal authority, etc. So, it is always recommended that the organization should properly register its mark for better business prospective.

Monday 28 April 2008

How To Obtain A Trademark In The US

A trademark is a word, a symbol or design, or a combination thereof, which serve to distinguish the goods or services of a person or company from other products or services available on the market. Trademarks represent not only actual wares and services, but also the goodwill of the producer. In this sense, they are considered valuable intellectual property. In order to facilitate the registration of a trademark, certain rules apply: • descriptive and generic terms should never be used, and • terms of particular use in an industry should be avoided.

When the trademark is a "design", the applicant may registration the words and logo separately. The applicant may register the words and logo separately giving it maximum protection and more flexibility in the use of such trademark.

The registration process, thanks to extensive searching to detect conflicting trademarks, allows the applicant to claim a unique brand and avoid violating the rights of others. Registration is irrefutable evidence (prima facie) of exclusive ownership in the US which allows the owner of the trademark to more easily protect their rights in case of dispute. Although registration provides the best legal protection against unlawful use of a trademark by a third party, it is important to understand that it is not and can never be a guarantee against any eventuality. For example, certain circumstances permit the cancellation of a trademark. In addition, the registration of a trademark with the Office of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) protects the rights of the owner in the United States alone. If the same mark is used in other countries, it would be appropriate to consider registration in each of these countries.

The process of application for registration of a trademark in the United States may take 12 to 18 months from the initial filing to approval of registration. However, this period may be extended depending on the particularity of the application, the flexibility with which the applicant is involved in the process and whether or not the opposition proceedings are commenced in the process. Here is an overview of the general procedure for filing an application for registration of trademark with the USPTO.

1. Filing of the application: The application for registration of trademark is filed with the USPTO, where it is currently assigned a serial number.

2. The USPTO examines the application: If the minimum requirements for the filing of an application are met, the application is forwarded to a lawyer who will review it to determine if the Federal Law on Trademarks allows the registration of the mark.

3. The USPTO publishes the mark: If the application is not subject to any additional requirements or refusal, the examining attorney authorizes the publication in the Official Gazette (OG), the official periodical of the USPTO. About one month following approval, the mark will be published in the OG for an opposition period of 30 days. If refusals or additional requirements arise during this period, the examining attorney assigned to the application issues a document (Office action, an act of the Board) on the nature of the refusal and / or these requirements. Within a period of six months following the issuance of the Office action, the applicant must submit a response addressing each of the grounds for refusal and each requirement.

4. The USPTO publishes the mark: If the applicant's response overcomes refusal and / or satisfies any additional requirements, the examining attorney allows the mark to be published in the Official Gazette (OG).

5. The mark is registered: Within about three months after publication of the mark in the Official Gazette, and in the absence of any appeal in opposition, the USPTO issues a registration. If an appeal in opposition is launched unsuccessfully, registration is issued after this appeal is rejected by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, the Litigation Division of the USPTO. Following the issuance of registration, the applicant must therefore file specific documents in order to keep the registration active.

6. Issuance of a Notice of Allowance: A NOA is issued to the applicant within three months following the publication of the mark in the Official Gazette. The NOA is not a registration but is a notice enabling registration of the mark followed by the filing of a Statement of Use (SOU). The schedule for the filing of a SOU or a request for extension of the filing period (extension request) is calculated from the date of issuance of the NOA. If the applicant does not file a SOU or a request for extension of the period for filing within six months from the date of issuance of the NOA, the application will fail.

7. The applicant shall submit a Statement of Use: Where the applicant intends to use the mark in commerce on all goods and services, it must submit a SOU and all fees payable within six months from the date of issuance of the NOA otherwise the application will fail. The applicant may not withdraw the application to file a SOU, but it may apply only once, for the extension of the filing period in order to correct an inadequate SOU. No other request for extension of time will be considered.

8. The USPTO examines the SOU: If the minimum requirements for the filing of a SOU are met, it is forwarded to the lawyer who will seek to review whether federal law allows registration. The applicant may not withdraw the application for SOU and filing fees cannot be refunded, even if for legal reasons a request does not result in the issuance of a registration.

9. SOU is approved and the mark is registered: In the absence of any refusal or any additional requirements, the examining attorney approves the SOU. Within approximately two months following approval of the SOU, the USPTO issues a registration. The applicant must then file specific documents in order to keep the registration active.

10. The owner of the registration files a statement: Within six years after the date of issuance of the registration, or within the grace period of six months following the end of the sixth year, the owner of the registration must file a Declaration of use, otherwise the registration will be canceled.

11. The owner of the registration files a statement or a renewal application: In the year before the end of each period of 10 years from the date of registration, the owner of the registration must file a Combined Declaration of Use or Excusable Non-Use / Application for Renewal (a declaration of use or non- use justified / renewal Application) otherwise the registration will be canceled or deemed expired.

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Tuesday 6 May 2003

Top 8 Things a Janitorial Service Can Do For Your Business

If you're on the fence about hiring a janitorial service for your commercial facility, just take a quick look at some of the benefits and services you gain from contracting with a cleaning company.

1) Personnel - With a cleaning service or janitorial service, you don't have to hire in-house employees. You contract with a maintenance company for those services.

2) Office Cleaning - Your offices are kept clean and orderly on a daily or weekly basis according to the needs of your particular facility.

3) Restroom Sanitation - With a janitorial service, your restrooms are regularly restocked with toilet paper, hand towels, soap, air freshener and seat covers. Proper sanitation of the restrooms including cleaning of the toilets, urinals, partitions, walls, floors, sinks, fixtures, counter-tops, and mirrors is also taken care of for you by your cleaning service.

4) Green Cleaning Services - The environment and your health is important to all of us. To reduce the amount of chemicals in your workplace atmosphere and our world, professional green cleaning offers non-toxic and eco-friendly cleaning products which are safe, reliable and efficient.

5) Emergency Cleaning Services - In the event of a natural disaster, break-in or other situation where your office space is in need of emergency cleaning, your janitorial service can assist you with this type of clean-up. Janitorial services have emergency response teams available for dispatch in the event of an unanticipated cleaning event.

6) Window and Skylight Cleaning - Having a polished image of your company starts with the curb appeal of your facility. Plus, spotless windows let in more sunlight improving the mood and energy levels of your employees and customers. A janitorial service can provide this cost-effective way to improve the look and feel of your facility.

7) Pressure Washing - Welcoming your customers to your parking lot and business with a clean exterior appearance is important. High-pressure sprayers and hydro cleaning methods restore and maintain building exteriors, roofs, concrete walkways and sidewalks. Commercial cleaning services that offer pressure washing for the exterior of your facility can even offer a service that includes use of an EPA compliant, water recovery system.

8) Day Porter Services - A continuous flow of visitors through your building poses a significant challenge in terms of housekeeping. Day porter services can be contracted to keep common areas like cafeterias, lobbies, lounges and conference rooms clean. They can also assist with window cleaning, monitoring the restrooms for cleaning and paper supply replenishment.

Maureen McHale is a marketing consultant located in Longwood, Florida. For more info contact 352-406-2011.

Providing both interior and exterior commercial building services throughout the state of Florida since 1993, American Facility Services (AFS) has offices in Orlando, Jacksonville and Tampa. AFS offers a wide range of services that can be customized to meet the needs of each client. Contact AFS today at 866-793-3735 or visit our website for an online proposal for your facilities maintenance needs.

Tuesday 29 April 2003

How to Register a Trademark With Ease

Believe it or not, registering a trademark is the toughest task to carry out when it comes to protecting your business or brand name. If you are not serious about your mark, it may literally cost you plenty both in terms of money and effort, which can further cause surplus stress and mental harassment. Moreover, this thrilling and complicated process involves numerous tasks and things that must be considered when thinking about starting a new business. This process can only be handled by the trademark attorney, appointed by the business owner itself.

In order to stay hassle free and run your business fluently, you must consider the points written below that will further help you plan better for your business.

• Make sure it is unique - it is important that you keep your trademark unique and simple so that your customers can easily recognize your brand or company. In general, a trademark is a symbol, used by different business owners for distinguishing their products and quality of work. The symbol can be any logo, or an image, a slogan, or a word as per owner's preference.

• Create a proper plan and initiate it - this includes creating a document highlighting all your business needs and then come out with a refined and extensive plan to accomplish all your desires. Think about how you'll be starting up with your efforts and how you'll be spending your money. Write everything down and give your best shot to satisfy all your requirements.

• Keep your mark simple and subjective - as per United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), your trademark must be whimsical, evocative and capricious. If in case your mark doesn't fulfill all these above requirements, it would not be considered a legitimate one.

• Various other benefits - once you register your mark, you'll be allowed to use your mark for commercial purposes, register in other countries and bring forth disputes in federal courts, help you stay away from unnecessary troubles, save your time and money, and more.

• Fulfill all the necessary requirements to start a new business - You must complete all the necessary paperwork before starting a new trade, which basically includes carrying out the obligatory certification, taking a business insurance policy, getting the mandatory business approvals, and more.

The most important point which is not mentioned above is, 'to select an appropriate brand name'. Make sure your brand name is short, unique and easy to memorize, as this would help you create a positive impact on the minds of your customers.