Legal Question in Business Law in Pennsylvania

Re: clothing co

You will need to trademark, patent and copyright your material. You will need to make sure that it all is registered with the appropriate office. You can look for information at the US Patent and Trademark Office website. Good luck.

Re: clothing co

The answer to your question will depend upon specifically what you are looking to protect (i.e., the design, your business name/logo, or other items). I recommend you discuss your situation in further detail with an intellectual property attorney. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact my office.

Re: clothing co

You asked about protecting designs.

The only real way to protect designs is to be the first to market.

You can protect your designs with copyrights, trademarks for your logo(s) or design patents, but these tools are expensive and often ineffective.

Realistically your designs will be stolen, copied and modified the second they see a runway or street. Witness the red carpet shows on TV. People around the world watch those and start copying those design BEFORE the broadcast is even over. Fashion show garments are copied in the same manner. Even large retailers regularly appropriate designs, and often even lure the manufacturer away from the designer with the designs.

You need to have agreements in place with the manufacturers (unless you will manufacture the designs in your own shop). You will also need agreements with your distributors, photographers, representatives and merchandisers.

In other words you need protection all over and should be working with a business lawyer (such as myself) from the start. We can often help with the start-up of businesses and prevent or limit those mistakes that new entreprenuers inevitably make.

Again, your best bet to protect your designs is not in intellectual property protection but rather is in speed to market.

Good luck.

Regards,

Roger