Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The Problem With the Music Business Isn't the Music
For reasons I can't exactly put my finger on, in the last three weeks I've had the great fortune to see a series of remarkable live musical performances. They range from Eric Clapton to Los Lobos, KD Lang, Daniel Lanois' Black Dub, Steve Poltz, Lucy Schwartz, Bushwalla and Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears. I know I keep reading that the music business is in trouble. And I'm sure it is. But there's nothing wrong with the music that's being written and performed. Great music is still out there. For my money, there is still no substitute for seeing a great performer do it live. The music business may be having trouble figuring out how to adjust to the changes brought about by the rise of the Internet, but as long people LOVE music - and I'm betting that's never going to stop - there will always be a way for great music to get out there. Just as long as people who love it support it.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Why Bother Registering A Trademark?
This is a question we get asked all the time: Why bothering registering a trademark? Is it really worth it? In other words, what are the advantages of going to the trouble of registering a trademark as opposed to simply continuing to use an unregistered trademark?
In general, there are three main benefits to registering a trademark:
* (1) stronger protection for your trademark;
* (2) it tends to deter others from copying your trademark; and
* (3) better/stronger remedies in court if you have to sue someone for infringing your trademark.
More specifically, some of the advantages are:
1. The owner of a U.S. trademark registration certificate is entitled to a legal presumption that it is the valid nationwide owner of the trademark;
2. Trademark registration provides the trademark owner with the ability to recover up to triple financial damages and attorney's fees from a trademark infringer in a lawsuit;
3. Potential buyers of businesses usually see increased value when the seller’s trademarks have been registered;
4. Judges tend to give more weight to a registered trademark than an unregistered trademark in trademark infringement lawsuits;
5. A trademark registration increases the likelihood of successfully obtaining an infringing Internet domain name from a cybersquatter;
6. A trademark registration provides presumptive notice to others that your trademark is already being used; thus a company that later adopts a confusingly similar trademark will have trouble claiming ignorance of the trademark;
7. A U.S. trademark registration can be used as a basis for obtaining a trademark registration in foreign countries;
8. A trademark registration (like a copyright registration and an issued patent) can be recorded with the U.S. Customs & Border Protection service and used as a basis for seizing counterfeit products before they enter the U.S;
9. The owner of a U.S. trademark registration has the right to use the ® symbol after the trademark; that alerts third parties to the trademark registration and helps to eliminate the defense of "innocent infringement";
10. The trademark will appear in trademark search/clearance reports conducted by third parties; that tends to discourage those third parties from proceeding with using your trademark or filing a trademark application; and
11. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO") will refuse to grant a trademark registration for any trademark it believe is "confusingly similar" to your trademark.
Those are eleven pretty good reasons for going to the trouble and expense of registering a trademark.
In general, there are three main benefits to registering a trademark:
* (1) stronger protection for your trademark;
* (2) it tends to deter others from copying your trademark; and
* (3) better/stronger remedies in court if you have to sue someone for infringing your trademark.
More specifically, some of the advantages are:
1. The owner of a U.S. trademark registration certificate is entitled to a legal presumption that it is the valid nationwide owner of the trademark;
2. Trademark registration provides the trademark owner with the ability to recover up to triple financial damages and attorney's fees from a trademark infringer in a lawsuit;
3. Potential buyers of businesses usually see increased value when the seller’s trademarks have been registered;
4. Judges tend to give more weight to a registered trademark than an unregistered trademark in trademark infringement lawsuits;
5. A trademark registration increases the likelihood of successfully obtaining an infringing Internet domain name from a cybersquatter;
6. A trademark registration provides presumptive notice to others that your trademark is already being used; thus a company that later adopts a confusingly similar trademark will have trouble claiming ignorance of the trademark;
7. A U.S. trademark registration can be used as a basis for obtaining a trademark registration in foreign countries;
8. A trademark registration (like a copyright registration and an issued patent) can be recorded with the U.S. Customs & Border Protection service and used as a basis for seizing counterfeit products before they enter the U.S;
9. The owner of a U.S. trademark registration has the right to use the ® symbol after the trademark; that alerts third parties to the trademark registration and helps to eliminate the defense of "innocent infringement";
10. The trademark will appear in trademark search/clearance reports conducted by third parties; that tends to discourage those third parties from proceeding with using your trademark or filing a trademark application; and
11. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO") will refuse to grant a trademark registration for any trademark it believe is "confusingly similar" to your trademark.
Those are eleven pretty good reasons for going to the trouble and expense of registering a trademark.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Domain Names Alert - .CO Domain Names Land Grab Starts Sunday?
According to the L.A. Times today - the domain name registrar Go Daddy (a/k/a godaddy.com) is going to launch a big push this Sunday during the SuperBowl to promote the .co domain name extension. We can’t tell yet whether Go Daddy has accurately figured out that there is a real demand for a new domain name extension or whether they’re making the kind of mistake Coca-Cola made a while back when they tried to introduce “New Coke”. But we do know that good .com domain names are getting harder and harder to register and – again according to the L.A. Times - Go Daddy will probably be paying something like $3 million for each 30 second commercial it runs during the SuperBowl. So….unless they are idiots they must be figuring there’s going to be a good return on that investment.
On the other hand, here’s a blog entry that claims the .co extension is just a waste of money.
So…is this a real opportunity or just a hype? We don’t know yet, but for the $30 being charged for a .co domain name ($28 if you buy six or more at the same time), it might be worth a small investment NOW (i.e., before Sunday) to:
(a) protect your company name and brands with a .co domain name if for no other reason than to block out your competitors and cybersquatters; and
(b) to think creatively about other .co domain names you might want to control as we move forward the next few years.
If you are interested in this but for some reason are not a Go Daddy fan, our local outside IT firm EBrothers Solutions, Inc. is an authorized Go Daddy re-seller that offers domain name registrations for the same price as Go Daddy - but with a local personal presence. You can visit them at www.ebsihosting.com.
We don’t exactly know where this is going to go, but we thought you would want to know sooner rather than later.
Please call (760/637-2400) or write (dbranfman@branfman.com) if you have any questions or thoughts about this.
On the other hand, here’s a blog entry that claims the .co extension is just a waste of money.
So…is this a real opportunity or just a hype? We don’t know yet, but for the $30 being charged for a .co domain name ($28 if you buy six or more at the same time), it might be worth a small investment NOW (i.e., before Sunday) to:
(a) protect your company name and brands with a .co domain name if for no other reason than to block out your competitors and cybersquatters; and
(b) to think creatively about other .co domain names you might want to control as we move forward the next few years.
If you are interested in this but for some reason are not a Go Daddy fan, our local outside IT firm EBrothers Solutions, Inc. is an authorized Go Daddy re-seller that offers domain name registrations for the same price as Go Daddy - but with a local personal presence. You can visit them at www.ebsihosting.com.
We don’t exactly know where this is going to go, but we thought you would want to know sooner rather than later.
Please call (760/637-2400) or write (dbranfman@branfman.com) if you have any questions or thoughts about this.
Friday, January 28, 2011
THE CARE & FEEDING OF DOMAIN NAMES: WEBINAR DE-BRIEFED
Yesterday we presented a webinar entitled "The Care & Feeding of Domain Names: Tips For Businesses & Lawyers" as part of the State Bar of California's Cyber Institute. Presenting via webinar is interesting/challenging because there isn't as much interactivity as in a live presentation. But we had a good group online including both private practice and in-house lawyers. Our theme was: these days it's not enough to just own one or two domain names for your business or your product; managing and maximizing the value of your brand(s) and domain names takes a conscious and concerted effort. The webinar addressed 11 concrete tips for accomplishing this. If you would like a copy of the PowerPoint we prepared, please contact us by phone at (760) 637-2400 or by email at info@branfman.com to request a copy.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
THE CARE & FEEDING OF DOMAIN NAMES: WEBINAR ON JANUARY 27TH
These days it's not enough to just own one or two domain names for your business or your product. Managing and maximizing the value of your brand(s) and domain names takes a conscious and concerted effort. That's why we're presenting a webinar entitled "The Care & Feeding of Domain Names: Tips For Businesses & Lawyers" on January 27, 2011 @ 1 pm Pacific. The webinar is being offered under the auspices of the State Bar of California's Cyber Institute. You can sign up here. [The State Bar is charging the fee - not us - and we're doing our part pro bono]. If you can't attend but would like a copy of the PowerPoint we've prepared, please contact us by phone at (760) 637-2400 or by email at info@branfman.com to request a copy.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Confessions of a January Hater (And What To Do About It....)
I have a confession to make: I hate January. Not just this January. Every January. Why? All the festivities between Halloween and the (forced?) frivolity of New Year's Eve are over. It's been two months since there was any major league baseball and still a month before Spring Training begins. That's why.
Plus this January we begin full year three of uncertainty about business in this country and the world since the Crash of September 2008.
But....having said that........I am reminded of a conversation that I had a few years ago with a client who is a full-time psychologist and a part-time inventor. He called to ask a trademark question and of course - he being a nice guy and all that - he began the conversation with "How are you?". Somewhere - out of nowhere - I responded: "I choose to be doing well today".
His (slightly perturbed) response: "Well, if more people said that I'd be out of business".
My point, of course, is that so much of where we end up is a result of the choices we make - especially the choice about our attitude. I don't necessarily wake up every day with a smile on my face. But before I get rolling I make a choice that this is going to be the best day I can possibly make it. And, if necessary, I remind myself of that during the day. It helps, of course, to make the right choice when I look at the pictures of my family in my office and look around to see the people I work with everyday.
Surely there is lots we could be worried or glum about; and if we choose to focus on those things it's going to be a tough day/week/month/year/life. So my choice is to remember that I have a choice.
Thank you to all of you who read this who are part of our community of friends, clients, and professionals. Thank you for reading and thank you for your support. We all rise in the boat together and we look forward to a year of progress, growth, increased knowledge - and the beginning of Spring Training when the grass is green and the smell of fresh-cut grass reminds us of where we've been and that anything is possible!
Plus this January we begin full year three of uncertainty about business in this country and the world since the Crash of September 2008.
But....having said that........I am reminded of a conversation that I had a few years ago with a client who is a full-time psychologist and a part-time inventor. He called to ask a trademark question and of course - he being a nice guy and all that - he began the conversation with "How are you?". Somewhere - out of nowhere - I responded: "I choose to be doing well today".
His (slightly perturbed) response: "Well, if more people said that I'd be out of business".
My point, of course, is that so much of where we end up is a result of the choices we make - especially the choice about our attitude. I don't necessarily wake up every day with a smile on my face. But before I get rolling I make a choice that this is going to be the best day I can possibly make it. And, if necessary, I remind myself of that during the day. It helps, of course, to make the right choice when I look at the pictures of my family in my office and look around to see the people I work with everyday.
Surely there is lots we could be worried or glum about; and if we choose to focus on those things it's going to be a tough day/week/month/year/life. So my choice is to remember that I have a choice.
Thank you to all of you who read this who are part of our community of friends, clients, and professionals. Thank you for reading and thank you for your support. We all rise in the boat together and we look forward to a year of progress, growth, increased knowledge - and the beginning of Spring Training when the grass is green and the smell of fresh-cut grass reminds us of where we've been and that anything is possible!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Is THUMBDRIVE a Generic Term or a Registerable Trademark?
The question of what is or isn't protectible as a trademark comes up all the time. ESCALATOR, THERMOS, ASPIRIN and even HEROIN were all registered trademarks at one point in time, but for a variety of reasons they became unprotectible generic terms. On the other hand, KLEENEX®, FRISBEE®, and XEROX® still remain protectible trademarks. Go figure.
What about THUMBDRIVE for flash drives? Is it a protectible trademark or an unprotectible generic term? The U.S Patent & Trademark Office has just issued a very interesting ruling that answers this question.
Why is this important? Because it highlights the problems with choosing descriptive or generic terms as trademarks for goods or services. Yes, the applicant for the THUMBDRIVE trademark registration ultimately won. But it took several years and probably several tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to get there. Most entrepreneurs and small businesses can't waste that much time or risk that much money. It is therefore much wiser to choose a unique, clever, fanciful and easy-to-remember name for a trademark than a weak descriptive or unprotectible term.
What about THUMBDRIVE for flash drives? Is it a protectible trademark or an unprotectible generic term? The U.S Patent & Trademark Office has just issued a very interesting ruling that answers this question.
Why is this important? Because it highlights the problems with choosing descriptive or generic terms as trademarks for goods or services. Yes, the applicant for the THUMBDRIVE trademark registration ultimately won. But it took several years and probably several tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to get there. Most entrepreneurs and small businesses can't waste that much time or risk that much money. It is therefore much wiser to choose a unique, clever, fanciful and easy-to-remember name for a trademark than a weak descriptive or unprotectible term.
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