When you start a new business in Florida, you need to prepare a marketing strategy detailing how you are going to sell your products or services. Quality and price matter, but so do the name and logo of your businesses. Let’s say you have a great idea for your brand or logo. Before you can use it, you need to make sure they are available and, if so, to protect them. This is a very complex and time-consuming process, so you should get in touch with experienced Florida trademark lawyers.To protect your brand and logo, you need to file a Florida or federal trademark application and there’s a lot of research to be done before you can proceed.For instance, if you reach out to trademark lawyers in Orlando, FL, they can undertake the difficult task of checking the national database looking for trademarks or service marks that might be similar or identical to yours and already in use, or at least in the registration process. Keep in mind that you might get sued for using a brand name or logo registered to another person or company.According to the law, you cannot register a brand name that sounds similar to an existing one to avoid confusing the general public. Likewise it is not allowed to come up with a logo design imitating another established logo. If your lawyers find this is the case, they will advise you on how to change your brand or logo to make it unique. As a general rule, the more creative you get when choosing a name or designing a logo, the higher the chance to have them approved without a hitch. There are some types of names and designs that cannot be protected, in which case a seasoned lawyer will advise you on what you can do to protect the intended name and logo of your brand.

Registered trademark symbol; image by TheDigitalArtist, via Pixabay.com.

If the name and/or design of your logo are available, your specialized lawyers will help you prepare all the documents required and file them at state or federal level. You want to make sure your papers are in order because if your application is denied, even on a minor technicality, you will probably lose the processing fee you already paid. Another way of getting a trademark for your new business venture is to buy it from someone else. For that, you’ll need to draw up a contract known as a trademark assignment agreement. Whether you’re the buyer or the seller in this type of contract, a trademark lawyer with many years of expertise in the field can make sure that your rights are protected. Do not confuse an assignment agreement with a licensing one. A trademark assignment agreement implies the sale of that trademark and the seller loses their intellectual property. However, a licensing agreement only allows you to use a certain trademark or service mark, but the seller will retain their rights. Before you sign any sort of agreement, have your lawyers check if the seller does actually own the rights to that trademark or logo.