Registering a trademark

[Mr Wiggl3s]

Does anyone know a process to do this? I kinda want to, so ill have it when im older. It's going to be a fuckin awesome company

[Toksin]

Call whatever your equivalent of NZ's commerce commission is.

[Jet-Lee]

It costs $30. Call your local Chamber of Commerce and they can direct you to the right place.

[Mr Wiggl3s]

$30, and its mine for how long?

[Jet-Lee]

Originally Posted by Mr Wiggl3s

$30, and its mine for how long?

7-10 years, i believe.

[highteknology]

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac.../howtofile.htm

that's how to file for one.

The length for a federal trademark is ten years. But in the fifth or sixth year you will have to file an "affidavit of use" and pay another fee to keep the trademark alive. you have to do this every ten years.

[drunken monkey]

hold on...
isn't a trademark a protection order on a name to prevent others trading under a similar name or even the same name that might otherwise be confused with your business?

if so, isn't one of the things you'd first need before you can apply for a trademark is a business and a trading name?

in anycase, if there is no conflict, i don't think you even need a trademark.
eg. restaurant with the same name as a garage.

[Jet-Lee]

Trademark?! Shit, I was thinking Copyright.

[drunken monkey]

there's a simpler way to copyright.
in most cases, if you need to ever prove your ownership of something, you just need to prove you did it before someone else did.

what you can do, is whenever you do something, be it draft up an outline of a script, a song, a fictional character or whatever, is to mail a copy of that to yourself using your country's most secure form of postal service.
that way, you have a sealed pacakge with a postage stamp+date on it.

you just file that package (un-opened of course) for when/if you ever need to prove you got their first.

as far as i'm aware, most courts will take that to be evidence of your claim.

[Jet-Lee]

Copyright is just on written work, and they don't care who did it first, it's who got the Copyright first that counts.

Same thing with a patent. Sure, you can draw up the designs, the build, everything and have it all date stamped one way or another by the government, but that doesn't mean squat if someone else goes and gets a patent on it.

If it's Trademark/Copyright/Patent vs. Non......the former wins. If it's Joe vs. John, then your example would win, but if either one had any sense they'd go out and get a Copyright/Patent and win all royalties.

[drunken monkey]

that makes sense to me....

I just remember being told that was a valid way of proving a claim if needed.
Thinking about it now, I can also see that what it is you're aguing for would also play a part.

Bear in mind that I design buildings and interiors for a living.
They're not things that can be patented or copyrighted or trademarked. That might have been why I was told what I was as a way to "protect" (to a degree) what I do.

[Jet-Lee]

Originally Posted by drunken monkey

that makes sense to me....

I just remember being told that was a valid way of proving a claim if needed.
Thinking about it now, I can also see that what it is you're aguing for would also play a part.

Bear in mind that I design buildings and interiors for a living.
They're not things that can be patented or copyrighted or trademarked. That might have been why I was told what I was as a way to "protect" (to a degree) what I do.

Well you weren't told wrong, I apologize if I put you off as that. Your way would completely win if there was no formal patent/copyright/trademark.

You can patent/trademark/copyright a building or interior design, 100%!! You really think anyone is going to get away with duplicating the Statue of Liberty, or the Washington Memorial? You can patents on form(look) or function(use). I'm fairly sure the appearance of a building would fall under form, if you had something abstract you didn't want duplicated.

Once again, wasn't trying to say you were wrong, just that the formal beats out the informal. Where both are informal, yours would win.

[highteknology]

Originally Posted by drunken monkey

hold on...
isn't a trademark a protection order on a name to prevent others trading under a similar name or even the same name that might otherwise be confused with your business?

if so, isn't one of the things you'd first need before you can apply for a trademark is a business and a trading name?

in anycase, if there is no conflict, i don't think you even need a trademark.
eg. restaurant with the same name as a garage.

GP, i guess if you thought of a name or something but you don't have the business yet then you could trademark that name