Category: Trademark

Trademark Issues

3rd Annual Building Creative Business Expo

I’m planning to present again at the 3rd Annual Building Creative Business Expo in Denver. The Event is Saturday, March 8th in downtown Denver.

I’ll probably be presenting a session on copyright law and a different session on naming your product, service, or business (No Lame Names). I might even get a chance to do a Strange Fire presentation.
From their page:

What is the BCBE?
The BCBE is a free, day-long event that provides creative individuals and businesses a “one-stop” opportunity to learn and gain awareness of the various services and programs that can help them to stabilize their creative businesses and plan for the future. Workshops are lead by experts in the fields of marketing, personal and business finance, media relations, music and film production, and public art.

The BCBE format includes:

  • Approx. 25 exhibitors in the atrium of the Webb Building
  • Workshops and panel discussions in 4th floor classrooms
  • 15-minute sales pitch in the atrium (organizations will be required to provide a giveaway item)
  • Special activities (i.e., fashion show, music performance, etc.)

www.changethis.com SUCCESS!

I just found out that my manifesto proposal for No Lame Names has been accepted by www.changethis.com!

Thanks to everyone that voted for it.

Now I just have to adapt my ebook of the same title for publication. It’ll take me a little time, and take them a couple months, but sometime soon that information about the interplay between branding and trademark law will be in a far more visible place than just my Web sites.

Since the email to friends and family worked so well for the No Lame Names proposal, I’m now asking you to do it again. I’ve submitted a proposal for Strange Fire: 5 Guiding Values.

Please do me another HUGE favor and click this link and vote for Strange Fire too!

http://www.changethis.com/proposals/1121

(yes, I see the “artists” typo in my bio on the page, but I can’t get back in to correct that… Oh well.)

Thanks everyone.

I’d love to see Strange Fire get some wider circulation. It’s already available for free at www.guidingvalue.com, but there are a lot more people that visit www.changethis.com. Here’s to a great start in 2008.

Roctober TM

Colorado Rockies try to register the trademark for “Rocktober”

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_7225239

I’m not a big baseball fan. I like GOING to games, having a beer, eating sunflower seeds, smoking a cigar if it won’t get me kicked out. But watching a game on TV isn’t my normal way to spend time – until there’s something actually on the line, like playoffs and the World Series.

To be fair, I don’t watch tennis or golf or NBA basketball until major championships are on the line.  I love watching any sport when the top players are playing for the top spot.

And, I live in Colorado.  So, while I normally root for the Rockies against everyone except the Royals (KC was the closest pro baseball team to my childhood hometown of Gravity, Iowa), this year rooting for the Rockies is way more fun.

But registering the TM on “Rocktober” seems greedy and pretentious to me.  Yes, there’s a lot of money on the line, but can’t the Rockies Organization limit their grasp to licensed stuff that use the logo and try to maximize their good-will with fans rather than take an extra cut?  It just feels wrong.  I understand it, but it feels wrong.

Sometimes Copyright and Trademark infringement = great PR and consumer good-will.

Vote For My Manifesto Proposal at ChangeThis.com

Vote for my “No Lame Names” Manifesto proposal on Changethis.com!

http://www.changethis.com/proposals/1070

Here’s the text of the proposal:

As a designer, the biggest branding hurdle I faced was the “lame name.” As a trademark lawyer, the hurdle has just gotten taller. This manifesto focuses on the overlap between creativity and trademark law in the branding process. No multi-million dollar market research needed. This is a practical in-the-trenches look at naming a new product, service, or business to create the best possible combination of creative and trademark strenght. Don’t be lame. Vote for this manifesto!

Event Schedule

I just posted a whole bunch of new workshops and seminars that I’ll be presenting for the Fort Collins/Larimer Small Business Development Center in 2008.  Of course the dates and times may change a little, but it’s a pretty full schedule of topics from business formation, to copyright and trademark, to effective contracting.

You can watch the events calendar at www.guidingvalue.com or go to the SBDC Web site.  All fees (something like $25/pop) are set, charged, and kept by the SBDC.