Are you interested in trademark attorney services? If your business has a million dollar idea, hiring trademark attorney services to get a trademark on it is critical for protecting your intellectual property. Trademark and patent law is a tricky game; having the best trademark attorney services on your team is the best way to ensure that ten other people don’t steal your idea and put your out of business. Here are a few things that you should know about trademark attorney services before going down that road:
- Intellectual property law is a race to the finish line.
Let’s say you and another business create the same idea at the same time. Who owns the intellectual property? The person who’s patent application is filed first. It doesn’t matter whose idea it is. One person could have completely stolen the concept from the other. All that matters is who got the patent or trademark first.
What we’re saying is, the moment you get a brilliant idea that will make you wealthy is the moment you need to start talking to trademark or patent lawyers about it. Before the patent goes through, get a provisional patent on your intellectual property to protect it today. A provisional patent gives you 12 months to get an official patent through. - Trademarks are for businesses, patents are for individuals.
If you are unsure of whether you need to pursue a trademark or a patent, consider how you want to use your intellectual property. If you get a patent on it, it is your personal property. If you get a trademark on it, it is an asset that your business owns. The right way to approach your million dollar idea just depends on how you’re planning to use it. - Patents and trademarks give you a monopoly.
Let’s say you develop groundbreaking technology for how ice cream cones are created. Every ice cream cone manufacturer in the world will one day use your idea in their production. If you don’t have a patent or trademark on your technology, every ice cream cone manufacturer will use your idea, to no benefit to you. However, once your name is on the idea, every single ice cream manufacturer must go through you (and you alone) in order to use your patent. This basically gives you a monopoly, until your patent or trademark expires. Trademarks last 10 years (and can be renewed after that) and patents last 20 to 30 years. - Trademarks do not instantly give your business value.
Having a trademark or patent is only as valuable as the intellectual property that it gives you ownership of. It might be easy to get a trademark or patent on an idea that is terrible, but it’s not really worth the effort if you can’t make any money on the idea, with or without a patent.
If you are hoping to get patent on a million dollar idea to make you wealthy, the emphasis is the idea, not the patent. Consider ideas that are applicable to a wide-range of industries, so that your target audience is broad. Niche ideas are great if you feel passionate about them, but rarely offer enough of a customer base to make you wealthy by holding a patent on it. - Find the right patent or trademark attorney.
Entrusting your idea with a legal professional who works specifically in patent law is critical for having a successful application. If your cousin’s spouse is a criminal justice attorney, they’re great to consult for all of your criminal justice legal issues. However, getting a patent or trademark on your idea that will make you wealthy isn’t something you should cut corners on. You have one shot at getting it right (before someone else does). Dot all your i’s and cross all your t’s. Using a legal professional who has dedicated their career to the patent branch of law is the most important safety net to ensure you’ve done that.
If you have an idea that will change the way the world operates, it is important to get your name on it before someone else does. If you have any questions about the process, share them below.
