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What makes a Mercedes Benz different from Toyota, or Adidas from Nike? These brands are great businesses and great brands, but each of them has a different personality, different characteristics, and a different reputation. Customers are able to distinguish one brand over another based on these important factors and this is what makes them choose one over the other. To illustrate the power of branding even Read More
Hiring An Army To Legally Protect Your CBD Brand
Did you know CBD brands can hire the US military to protect their brand? Sounds impossible, right? In this article, we’re going to talk about how a federal trademark allows you to hire an army to protect your brand and business. Before getting into how your CBD brand can hire an army to protect your intellectual property rights, let’s talk about the concept of common law trademark rights versus the benefits of Read More
Amazon Seller’s Guide to Trademarks and IP Law
Like any business, selling on Amazon comes with risks and potential legal issues if you enter it without the proper legal protections set in place. As the realm of third-party selling on Amazon grows, so do problems regarding counterfeits, infringement, and listing hijackers. In response, Amazon now requires sellers to have a federal trademark registration in order to qualify for Amazon Brand Registry.In this Read More
Dear Amazon Seller, You Might Need A Dynamic Brand Chamber
When you apply for trademark registration, the USPTO requires you to identify the International Classes (category of goods/services) that your trademark covers. Therefore, if you’re selling doormats, knives, shoes, pens, and keychains or plan to expand your brand to offer different types of products, you may end up spending a few thousand dollars on government fees for your trademark application. The government Read More
Amazon Seller Horror Story: Don’t Let This Happen to You!
Months ago, someone came to us asking for legal advice. He had lost his Amazon listing to a hijacker who had taken over his listing. Making matters worse for him, the hijacker had obtained a trademark registration for his brand name with the USPTO before he could. Because of this, the hijacker was able to show proof to Amazon that they owned the brand name. While it's true that he could still prove "first Read More
A Quick Guide To Amazon’s Transparency Program
Enrolled in Amazon’s Brand Registry? If you are, Transparency by Amazon is another service that you can take advantage of to help protect your brand and customers from counterfeits. To enroll in Transparency, you must have: The ability to verify yourself as the brand owner of your products A Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), such as a UPC or EAN barcode on your products The ability to apply unique Read More
Private Label Brands With Registered Trademarks Sell For More
We recently assisted a client who found a private label brand that they wanted to buy. This business had about 200 SKUs in the toy category. We reviewed their financials and everything looked great, just as the seller claimed. Their mailing list held 500,000 contacts, the website was beautifully designed and social media following was strong. The seller spent a fortune on creating custom packaging for all their SKUs Read More
Should I Do A Clearance Search For My Trademark?
There are two critical steps in the trademark process. The first step is trademark clearance, and the second is trademark registration. Most brand owners skip the first step when they file their own trademark registrations, which can easily backfire. So, what is a trademark clearance and why do you need it? Trademark clearance is a comprehensive search to check for potential problems with your use of a proposed Read More
Can a Trademark Application Be Expedited?
For most businesses, the 8-12 month wait time from filing a trademark application to getting registered with the USPTO can feel like an eternity. So, one might ask, “Is there anything that can be done to expedite a trademark application?”The answer is yes, but only in limited circumstances.To expedite the examination of your trademark application, you must file a petition with the USPTO requesting special Read More
10-Foot Fence Strategy To Protect Your Amazon Brand From Hijackers
When you file your trademark application, it typically takes at least nine months to register with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This wait can feel especially long for an Amazon seller who is hoping to take advantage of Amazon Brand Registry which requires a trademark registration. While you wait, here are two things from our “10-Foot Fence Strategy” you can implement to help protect Read More
