Legal Question in Business Law in Maryland

Re: Married name change

As I understand the facts, you will be married this January. You are changing your name. Yet you have a graphic design business that will continue to use your maiden name.

You can keep using your business name after the wedding, assuming that there is no one in your geographic market who was using that name previously in the graphic design business. The entity who uses a business name first, generally can prevent others from using that name.

If you are doing business in more than one state, then I strongly recommend that you apply for a federal trademark registration. While trademark registration is not manditory, if you have a registered uncontestable trademark, then a later in time user cannot attack its validity in court. If you do not register, then you will have to prove first use in interstate commerce which is not as easy, but is still doable.

You can also take the more limited option of registering your business name with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation. This will prevent any entity in Maryland from using any name that is confusingly similar to yours to provide graphic design services. But given that Maryland is a very small state, many Maryland entities serve businesses in the District of Columbia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, or West Virginia. That is why I usually recommmend federal trademark registration.

I would also recommend that you put a TM after your business name. That will give a potential infringer notice that you are claiming trademark rights. When the trademark is registered, then you must switch the notice to (R).

Thank you very much for contacting me on this matter.

Sincerely,

Steven D. Rinaldi

Re: Married name change

If you are established enough under your current business name, there is no need to change it as it may impact future sales of your product. Registering your name is not necessary, however, if you are concerned with protecting your work, you should consider copyrighting your work product or putting together licensing agreements for any of your work that you expect to be used in commercials, ads, etc. I assume you produce art for sale. In those cases the rights to the work passes upon sale to the buyer. If you do work on contract i.e. produce work for a sales agency, private buyer, etc., you may wish to set up a business entity i.e. LLC or corporation. These entities provide a veil of protection of your personal assets in situations where (heaven forbid) you are sued for not coming through on a contract. Give it some thought and feel free to contact me or the attorney of your choice for further consultation.