Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Finding A Trademark For A Home Business Opportunity Online

By Myles Krueger

It is always important to protect yourself and your assets as a business owner of a home business opportunity online. One of the first ways to do this is by getting a trademark approved by the US government in order to protect your company name. This will be important down the road as you get bigger.

The office through which you trademark is called the United States Patent and Trademark Office. If you go online to their website you will actually find that they provide a form called the Trademark Electronic Application System of the TEAS where you can finish most of the process at their website with step by step direction.

The normal fee for this can be around $325 depending what you need to get done with it. Probably one of the smartest things you can do is get help from those that know what they are doing with a trademark if this is your first time. The USPTO provides a twenty four hour customer service number on their site where you can contact them for help with filling out the form.

They are supportive, but strategically they can't really help you out like a trademark lawyer will be able to. There are quite a few that you can contact that will support you every step of the way with the trademark and help you figure out a trademark that will serve your company long term.

This can be overwhelming and the approval process can be tedious because it can take several months for them to approve or not approve this trademark. They can be denied if they feel that your name is too general or if you are infringing upon another companies trademark.

If you are out of the country you can actually get someone else like a lawyer to represent you in filing the trademark application. Whether you are a US citizen or not it doesn't really matter and you can still turn in the form. You will probably have to get a EIN number if you do not have a citizenship.

I would suggest that when you choose your name that you keep it very general because you never know how your company may change down the road and move into a new direction with products, services and philosophy. You don't want to box yourself in with a name that doesn't apply to your business anymore.

When you have finished this process take joy in it because you have now staked your claim to intellectual property. This could be the beginning of a wonderful future for your brand not having to worry about legal liabilities.

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