August 2021

I recently discovered a great tool to review your brand's overall design online and test is cohesiveness. By searching in Google for your brand or business name, and then selecting the "images" tab for the results, you will retrieve a collage of what others see as the primary representation for your brand. This can be quite useful -- if there are inconsistencies it may be time to clean up your logo(s) or designs, or to revisit a style guide; on the other hand, if the message of clean and consistent then keep up the great work!

Let me know how your results look, and if you want to discuss how to make your brand's message more bold or more harmonize, drop me a line. Of course, for more frequent tips like this, you can follow me on YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter.

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Creative Trademarks Are Alive and Well on Main Streets in America

A Brand’s R.O.T.I. (Return on Trademark Investment) Far Outweighs the Costs of Trademark Protection

Trademark protection isn’t free. But it isn’t terribly expensive. And most important, the Return on Trademark Investment (R.O.T.I.) far outweighs the costs. The returns from investing in trademark registration include: Use of the ® Increased protection online with social media, domain names, and Amazon Appearing in the USPTO database 24/7 A stronger case against any infringers A tangible asset that can be licensed or sold

Believe it or not, the USPTO applied recently to register "USPTO" and "U.S. PATENT & TRADEMARK OFFICE" in their own trademark registry! Incredibly, the agency had never protected the names officially in the past. Many hope that once these registrations are issued, it will provide a tool for the USPTO and other government agencies to assist in dealing with the scammers that prey on trademark filers and the data in the public records. You can see the USPTO's own filings here: US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE USPTO USPTO LOGO 1 USPTO LOGO 2

Erik will be speaking at the upcoming AltLegal Connect conference on "Dealing with and Overcoming Office Action Refusals.” Click here to learn more.

If there are any topics or issues you would like to see covered here, let us know! ------------------------------------------------------- This publication has been prepared for the general information of clients and friends of the firm. It is not intended to provide legal advice with respect to any specific matter. Under rules applicable to the professional conduct of attorneys in various jurisdictions, it may be considered advertising material.   © 2021 Erik M. Pelton & Associates, PLLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.