I Hate These I-Told-You-So Moments
  
Back in early 2016, I ended up driving behind a bus that had a huge ad for a local garbage removal company.
It was a pretty cool brand—and as I often do in these cases, I quickly checked if the brand was trademarked.
It wasn't.
I came home and sent an email to the owner of the company suggesting that they should look into trademarking their brand.
No response.
Some time later, I started seeing more of their ads around Vancouver.
Still no trademark application filed.
I sent them a letter by mail.
No response.
A few months later, we received a request from them to conduct a free trademark search for their brand.
The trademark was available in both Canada and the U.S. and we were prepared to give them our unique 100% money-back guarantee.
They said they needed to think about it.
We kept following up and they kept thinking about it.
We sent out email reminders and left voice mails. But they needed more time to decide if their brand was worth a couple of thousand dollars.
In January of 2017, they finally decided they were about ready to give it another thought.
We did the search from scratch because with trademarks, what's available today may not be available tomorrow.
Lo and behold, we discovered that someone in a nearby province (a 'province' is a Canadian version of a U.S. 'state') filed for a very similar trademark in November of 2016. We changed the guarantee level from 100% to 0% and had to let the client know that they just blew an excellent opportunity to own and protect a great and (at least a year ago) perfectly franchisable brand.
If was the dictionary definition of a I-Told-You-So moment.
Everyone thinks those things would never happen to them because they only happen to other people.
I get it.
But if you're trying to build a franchise, if you're spending thousands of dollars on ads, if you are providing a service in a competitive market where the only real distinguishing factor is the brand—stubbornly refusing to invest in your own brand is not just naive, it's borderline criminal.
It's the perfect way to set yourself up for failure: either nobody steals your brand because what you've built is no good, or you will end up watching someone else rip the benefits of thousands of hours and dollars you invested in what you thought was your brand.
As you know from my story, helping people protect their IP is very personal to me. Having my father's example in front of me, I saw firsthand how it feels when someone steals what you've poured your heart and soul into.
But unfortunately, we see these horror stories all the time. And if I can help one business owner avoid the pain of going through completely unnecessary rebranding or litigation, I see it as my duty and my obligation to at least help identify the risks.
If you have a brand you believe in, don't wait until someone steals it from you. Protect it ASAP.
The Founder Movie: The Biggest Lesson About The Value Of The Brand
If you haven't watched The Founder movie about Ray Kroc, you absolutely should. One of the best movies about entrepreneurship out there.
One of the moments in the movie was so powerful, I created a short clip from it, because there is no better illustration of the value of the brand.
Check out this 2-minute clip at http://tmf.rocks/raykroc
I'll leave you with a great quote from Ray Kroc, "You’re not going to get it free. You have to take risks, and in some cases you must go for broke. If you believe in something, you’ve got to be in it to the ends of your toes. Taking reasonable risks is part of the challenge. It’s the fun."
Trademark Screw-Ups of the Month
Coachella Suing Urban Outfitters For Trademark Infringement: Should be a slam dunk given that Coachella Music Festival, LLC owns several registered trademarks covering among other things, t-shirts, tank tops, long-sleeved shirts, and other clothing.
DEADMAU5 ENTERS LEGAL BATTLE OVER “MEOWINGTONS” TRADEMARK: That'd be quite a catfight. Problem is, deadmau5 can't convince USPTO to ignore a trademark previously registered by someone else. Even if he's in the right legally, USPTO must treat a registered trademark as valid—until and unless it's cancelled or abandoned. That is yet another demonstration for why registering your brand as a trademark early on is absolutely essential.
Peaches Monroee Seeks Trademark For Viral Phrase ‘On Fleek’: While she is thinking of trademarking the phrase, there are already 13 applications and two registrations that have something to do with "ON FLEEK", including someone else's ON FLEEK trademark for eyebrow cosmetics registered in April of 2016. With trademarks it's all about timing, timing, timing...
Toy giant Hasbro is trying to trademark the smell of Play-Doh: Scents can be trademarked in some jurisdictions but they are considered to be unconventional trademarks. The biggest problem with trademarking scents is being able to properly describe the scent to distinguish it from other smells. Sending the package to USPTO is usually not enough because trademark registration is not done for the sake of the Trademarks Office. The registration should be able to give the public sufficient information as to what they are allowed and what they are not allowed to do with a particular brand. And if it is impossible for the public to know what is protected without having to go out and buy the package from the trademark owner, it would usually not proceed to registration.
Chinese companies are rushing to trademark Ivanka Trump's name: For one trademark application filed in the U.S., there are 10 filed in China. For one trademark filed in Canada, there are 100 filed in China. If you think that you may start selling your products and services in China, you better trademark your brand there—before it gets popular enough to be snatched by someone else.
Marine Trademark Office Quietly Joins Fight Against Online Misogyny: Whether or not you agree that it was a good policy for Marine Corps to shut down the Cards Against Humanity-style game, this situation demonstrates the power of trademarks. Much harder to argue with someone if they can show that you're infringing on their trademarks...
Bentley Motors Loses Trademark Battle With Bentley Clothing: Bentley Motors realized they wanted to claim ownership of the Bentley brand in association with clothing some 55 years after Bentley Clothing company started selling apparel under Bentley brand. This only demonstrates that you have to be very proactive in figuring out all possible line extensions for your brand and try to secure them sooner rather than later.
Oh The Irony: Chinese Automaker Suing Mercedes For Trademark Violation: It becomes increasingly difficult to find product names that are trademarkable across the world. There'd always be something somewhere that would present a registrability problem. But you would think that the big guys like Mercedes would at least consider the big markets before launching a new brand...
BrewDog backs down over Lone Wolf pub trademark dispute: Yet another beer trademark dispute. Well, the bar can release a sigh of relief because the trademark owner said they don't really mind the use of the name by the bar. What's interesting is that the bar is now shaming the brewer's lawyers for forcing the bar to rebrand. Instead, the bar owner should be shaming himself and his legal team for picking a name they can't use, let alone own. How difficult would it have been to do a proper trademark search? Hint: you can get one for free from Trademark Factory®.
This Brand Is Suing Rihanna for Trademark Infringement: Trademarks are all about who uses and protects the brand first. As a company that does a ton of trademark searches for hopeful companies and entrepreneurs who want to secure their trademark rights, we often have to deal with situations when the name is no longer available because someone else had trademarked it first. The fascinating (but oh so understandable) part is that everyone wants to make sure THEIR trademark gives them as broad protection as humanly possible, while on the other hand suggesting that others' trademark rights should be interpreted as narrowly as humanly possible. It doesn't quite work that way.
Patriots look to next year, file for 'Blitz for Six' trademark: Yes. That's how this works in sports and entertainment. Step 1: come up with a tagline can potentially generate revenues. Step 2: trademark it. Step 3: Use it as widely as possible, get as many people excited about it as possible, get as much cash as possible. If you skip Step 2, you end up competing with everyone else who wants to use the same tagline. So instead of revenues, you are dealing with aggravation from dealing with parasites.
Lacoste Loses Crocodile Trademark in New Zealand Supreme Court Decision: This case demonstrates how crucial it is to use the trademark as registered. Lacoste lost because they couldn't provide evidence of using their logo with the word Crocodile on it. As a result, this trademark was cancelled for non-use, clearing the way for their competitor.
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