Editor’s Note: This guest post has been created in collaboration and with financial support from the creators of the online trademark application tool Reggster.com. If you’re also interested in partnering with us, just reach out.
For many startups trademarks are the most important intellectual property asset. Protecting them does not have to be prohibitively expensive. By making right choices early on in the game it is possible to save a lot of money down the line and make trademark protection much cheaper and faster.
One of the most important things you can do to save cost is to choose a name that can be trademarked. Not all names are created equal, and especially software companies often choose names that either cannot be protected or can only be protected after spending a lot of money. If the name is already chosen, it is important to know if and how it can be protected. Either way, trademark experts are able to help you make smart choices.
Another important aspect of saving costs is to know what can be done alone, and what should be done with an attorney. Unfortunately it turns out that companies often avoid using attorneys when they should use them, and some companies use them when there is no need. The two biggest (and costly) mistakes companies do when filing trademarks without attorney is specifying the goods and services either wrongly or too narrowly and filing applications for trademarks that have no chance of being registered.
If you’re thinking of filing a trademark without attorney, join the webinar to learn what to take into account when drafting a list of goods and services, and what kinds of names have no chance of succeeding.
The reason you don’t hear these from your regular trademark attorney is that these choices are not always legal issues and and many of them relate to decisions you must do at much earlier stage than talking to a trademark attorney.
Next week’s webinar will also give you a list of questions to be asked from your trademark attorney to avoid unpleasant and unpredicted costs. For example, it is unfortunately quite common that many attorneys charge a lot of money for “reviewing registration certificate”. In fact, some attorneys charge more for that than for filing the application. The upcoming webinar will tell you where the biggest unwanted surprises come from and how they can be avoided.
Reggster conducted a free 30 min webinar on the 5th of June, 15.00 CET to tell you what kind of tactics and choices you can implement to dramatically reduce your trademark costs. Register here!