patenting your logo

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Other day this guy told me that I should patent my logo/signature, and if I don't, other guy could do this and I never could use it anymore. Besides thinking that he wanted just make some money on me and if it's possible someone doing that, he would take some famous guy instead of me, but, I'm still thinking, someone of you already require a logo-patent ?
Sorry my bad English anyway...
Thanks in advance.
 
i dont think you can get a patent on a logo. but you can register it as a trade mark.
 
Actually that would be a trademark not a patent. Easy process as long as no one is competing for it. Costs about a couple hundred bucks.
 
hahaha, how many times have we done this and posted at the same time :D. its funny because we post allmost the same responce.
 
well, speaking of trademarks and such I guess I can ask this here: I am making a balisong for a man in the military, he asked for the blade to be shaped like the K-bar blade and wants "USMC" on the base of the blade. is "USMC" copyrighted? It's not a selling factor or something that I am charging extra for, just something he asked for as an afterthought and I have the letter stamps to do. But if it is copyrighted/trademarked I will need to find out how to get permission to use it. I know that most of you are not lawyers, if any of you, but I would appreciate the answer if anyone knows it.
Jeff W.
 
I think to trademark your logo, you're looking at probably over a grand. With an actual attorney, it will be probably more.
 
I have a trademark. It cost about $500, then there are other 'maintenance fees' that the PO extracts on a certain schedule over the years.

You're probably OK with a logo. If someone tries to pull a fast one on you by trademarking your logo, all you'd have to do is prove you've been using it first and they'd be out of luck (One of the requirements for getting a TM is that it is not in use TMed or not. (sort of like 'prior art' if you were going for a patent.))
The question is, is it worth $500 or so to be sure? A TM is usually best for protecting a name or symbol that could become more generally used for a product or technology (such as the term 'linerlock' is a Walker TM).
The name of your company or logo art (while perfectly trade markable) are probably not worth the effort, unless you're pretty sure someone's going to steal your art. They couldn't stop you from using it, but it might be difficult for you to stop them from using it without a TM.
 
JCaswell said:
I have a trademark. It cost about $500, then there are other 'maintenance fees' that the PO extracts on a certain schedule over the years.

You're probably OK with a logo. If someone tries to pull a fast one on you by trademarking your logo, all you'd have to do is prove you've been using it first and they'd be out of luck (One of the requirements for getting a TM is that it is not in use TMed or not. (sort of like 'prior art' if you were going for a patent.))
The question is, is it worth $500 or so to be sure? A TM is usually best for protecting a name or symbol that could become more generally used for a product or technology (such as the term 'linerlock' is a Walker TM).
The name of your company or logo art (while perfectly trade markable) are probably not worth the effort, unless you're pretty sure someone's going to steal your art. They couldn't stop you from using it, but it might be difficult for you to stop them from using it without a TM.
Click to expand...

Thanks Sr
Here in my country they ask for $800 for a TM !
 
Something my instructor taught us in Design School: One good way to protect yourself is to place your artwork in an envelope, seal it and mail it to yourself. When it arrives put it in a safe place and DO NOT OPEN IT! That will give you a document that is sealed and marked with a date by an official government agency (postmark). It will only cost you the price of a stamp. If someone tries to steal your logo, you now have documented proof that you created it first. According to my instructor, it has been used successfully in court. It's not foolproof, only a true registered trademark is ironclad, but it's better than nothing.
 
When it comes to PTO, I know my way around- as many forumites here and elsewhere will agree:D
- RE: Identity Mark - AKA Brand AKA Tradename Logotype
- The first test is date of creation. You need to establish a fixed date of creation of the mark or design. When I do trademarks, I enter them into a journal ( as a printout with the exact date, time and place of creation ) , They will also exist as a digital format but that's not a valid test for PTO. You need a physical printout. On the printout, I have a line that states that I attest that "this page was created in such and such a date". I usually have an associate countersign the page to prove that a third party witnessed the creation date.
- Once a client has approved a logo, I will search it in the PTO database. In the old days that meant a trip down to PTO. These days you can search online if you have access.
- Once I'm sure that no other entity has trademarked an EXACT design for a similar industry, I'll formally register the logo with PTO for a fee.
At that point, it enters the PTO's system where you can wait up to a year to hear if your brand name infringes on a similar business' or not.
If it does, they will reject the registration in favor of the precedent.

My policy is that if I'm fairly sure no one else owns a mark in a particular business, I'll clear the client to use it BEFORE I send it into the PTO.
That's because it then puts the burden of 'First Use' on the next party to apply for the mark. In other words, getting it on a product's first run date stamps it. The rest is a waiting game.

That's pretty much it for Trademarks. Patents are a whole other story, as you know.
:thumbup:




jeffdk06 said:
well, speaking of trademarks and such I guess I can ask this here: I am making a balisong for a man in the military, he asked for the blade to be shaped like the K-bar blade and wants "USMC" on the base of the blade. is "USMC" copyrighted? It's not a selling factor or something that I am charging extra for, just something he asked for as an afterthought and I have the letter stamps to do. But if it is copyrighted/trademarked I will need to find out how to get permission to use it. I know that most of you are not lawyers, if any of you, but I would appreciate the answer if anyone knows it.
Jeff W.
Click to expand...
 
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