A recent case is making headlines, and every business owner using their own name in business needs to keep an eye on the outcome. Wedding dress designer Hayley Paige Gutman recently revealed that she is in the midst of a contentious legal battle with her former employer, JLM Couture. While there is quite a bit […]

Practicing law exclusively for business owners can naturally put me in quite a unique position when it comes to spotting business trends, as you can imagine; particularly as the world endures an economic-crushing pandemic. After all, when clients work with my law firm, it is primarily in one of three ways:  To start a new […]

In Part I, we briefly covered what you must do to protect a trademark. In short, you don’t own your brand until you trademark it. Obtaining your federal trademark is the (critical) first step of that process; however, you must continue with maintaining your trademark to ensure that you retain those rights. This includes both […]

Many business owners that I work with all too easily fall into the same trap: they work countless hours to tirelessly work to build their brand. They know they must protect it, so they take the responsible route, and obtain a federal trademark registration. After what is usually a long year of waiting, the registration […]

Or what I really want to title this article: how to take strategic advantage of business opportunities by leveraging legal options. This is a long-awaited announcement: I have brought on a business partner in my second business, The Creative Law Shop®. And I couldn’t be more thrilled by this transition. The backstory can be found […]

In our digital world, most businesses cross international lines (knowingly or unknowingly). After all, you can’t control who can view your online content, no matter what country they’re in. Because of this fact, if your business is marketing online in any capacity, and you have customers or clients in other countries, you must assess whether […]

Recently, a slew of inquiries have crossed my desk regarding domain ownership: everything from dealing with cybersquatters, to those who are attempting to impermissibly use a distinctly similar domain to others, even hostile takeovers of a domain/business. Here are answers taken directly from responses to client questions that will pertain to all online business owners: […]

In other words, how to avoid wasting money on building name recognition and branding, only to fall prey to arguably the easiest pitfall in trademarking. The most common (and avoidable) errors I witness trademark applicants make is inadvertently applying for what’s known as a “generic” or “descriptive” trademark. In a best case scenario, this can […]

Most know that trademarks exist to aid in distinguishing an owner’s goods or services from other businesses, as well as a source identifier. However, few business owners know that technically, there are 3 forms of trademark ownership:  1. Common law trademark rights under the Lanham Act, or two forms of registration with the USPTO: 2. […]

This year I’ve been nearly entirely absent from blogging, because 1. COVID; 2. At the outset of 2020, I made an intentional decision to dedicate my time to mentoring, and was blessed with the opportunity to work with fantastic interns, and 3. I’ve spent endless hours having important conversations with my own mentor about everything […]