Deena Burgess
Law Offices of Deena Burgess - Managing PartnerNew York,
http://www.ebusinesslawgroup.com
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I finished my first book. YAY! It's a great first step, but I'm not where I need to be yet. My goal is to do 10 or more ebooks so that I can eventually compile them into a "real" book.
I love this little guy so much that I've decided to use him on all my books. I'm thinking of calling him Squishy (it's a law school joke), but I'm open to other suggestions for names. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Before we list them online for sale (they'll be under $5 each), I want to have at least two complete. I've promised myself that I'll have the second one done before the end of the year. No pressure, right?
The title for the next one is "Why the Heck Should I do That? Should I Register My Domain Name as a Trademark?"
It's another one of those questions that I get asked all of the time. I usually get a phone call or email that goes like this:
The client says, "Hi. I want to register my domain name as a trademark."
And I say, "I'm sorry, but the Trademark Office doesn't allow the registration of domain names as trademarks."
(This is usually followed by a huge sigh of frustration before I can continue.)
"Although you can't register your domain name, you can register the main part of your URL without the top level domain (the .com, .net, .org, etc.) assuming it meets the qualifications for trademark status."
Then we proceed into the meat of the discussion where we discuss whether the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) is likely to issue a trademark for the word that they're using as their URL. It's a far deeper discussion that I'll go into in detail in the book, but would take too long here.
As an aside, the other trademark question that I get ALL THE TIME is "When can I use the TM after my name?" Here's what the USPTO says,
Anyone who claims rights in a mark may use the TM (trademark) or SM (service mark) designation with the mark to alert the public to the claim. It is not necessary to have a registration, or even a pending application, to use these designations. The claim may or may not be valid.
The registration symbol, ®, may only be used when the mark is registered in the PTO. It is improper to use the registration symbol at any point before the registration issues.
You can (and should) start using the TM designation immediately on any word, short phrase or logo that you consider to be a designator of your business (i.e., a trademark).
Did you know that? You're not alone.
It comes as a total surprise to most of my clients.... Learn something new every day, right?
More to come in the new book... Off to start writing my outline....
Goal: To launch my law firm and raise my kids without losing my mind.
Read Deena's other blog entries >
What Do You Do When You Finish One Book? Start Another One....
