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Hi. I’m Steve Kramer. I’m a Florida trademark attorney. And today we’re going to talk about ways to protect your trademark other than filing a registration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This is a question that businesses have to deal with because one of your most valuable assets as a business is your goodwill and your good name. You spend years building a brand, you spend years building a reputation. You don’t want to see a guy open down the street with the same name as you who’s trying to trade off of all of that work you’ve put in through your life and your career. Now one of the ways you can protect yourself is to file a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. And this is actually what is an officially a registered trademark. And this is one way to do it but we’re really talking about our alternatives to filing a formal U.S. trademark. Now one of the things you can do is if you’re in Florida and you’re conducting business here, you can file a Florida trademark which is not quite as expensive or involved a process as filing U.S. trademark. Another advantage is it doesn’t have the same risks and liabilities that can sometimes attach when you file a U.S. trademark. Another way you can protect your trademark is actually using it in commerce. If you don’t use it business, there’s really no protection for a trademark. A trademark is your trade name and it’s what you use in business. So that’s one way to protect your trademark and the other thing you really need to do is you’ve got to protect your trademark. You’ve got to police it. You’ve got to have an attorney there who will help you and guide you through that process. Meaning if somebody opens up down the road and starts using your name, you’ve got to get on top of that immediately. Because if you don’t do that, that can really hurt your position. So this is very, very important. And then of course again, you might want to consider filing U.S. trademark because the cost is usually minimal compared with the goodwill that you protect, with the reputation that you protect, with the value of your business that is so tied up into your name and brand. Why am I telling you this? Because this is something that I deal with all the time. Trademarks, intellectual property – this issues are some of the most overlooked aspects of running a business. And it’s something that people need to deal with and consider. Pick up the phone, give me a call if you want to talk about this or any other legal issue. I’d be glad to talk with you. Thanks for watching, I’m Steve Kramer.
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