Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

Re: ''patent for title''

You don't get a patent. You either get a trade mark or a service mark depending on the type of work your company does. Although you can do this yourself, if you make a mistake it will end up costing you. You probably should get an attorney to do the filing for you. Feel free to contact me if you need help with this.

Re: ''patent for title''

The Trademark Office in Washington charges a $350 filing fee for an application for a mark. The Trademark Office then reviews the application and if there are no problems (there often are at least some mnor problems to overcome) the mark is "published" to see if anyone objects. If nobody does , your registration issues. The other usual costs are doing a professional search of the mark before filing the application, getting an attorney's opinion of the search, and drafting the application. While these are all recommended, they can be avoided if you really want to skimp and are willing to do the work yourself. Of course, there are alot of aspects that experience with the process teaches you. Even if you do it yourself, it is worth at least paying an experienced trademark attorney a small amount for walking you through it and consulting along the way.

Re: ''patent for title''

What you may actually need is a trademark, not a patent.

The defining question is whether your company name is a corporate designation or a source identifier. A little confusing, I know, but here's an example: Mickey Mouse is a trademark that is owned by the Walt Disney Company. So when you see Mickey Mouse on a product, you know that the product comes from Walt Disney Company. But the corporate name itself, Walt Disney Company, is not a trademark.

And that confusing example is just the beginning! If you indeed have a trademark and not a corporate designation, the next step is a search; analysis of the search results (is there a confusingly similar name to your trademark already registered or pending? Are the goods similar too?); application process including description of goods and services; how many classes of goods will be registered; intent to use or in use application; and on and on. Consequnetly, I always recommend that a trademark applicant use an attorney to prepare the application.

Please feel free to contact me if you require any further information.