Trademarking your name. Make decisions for where you want to go, not where you are now.
La Onda is a newsletter by Sandra Velasquez, founder of Nopalera, with actionable insights around brand building, selling, and a recap of the most asked questions during Mentor Mondays.
Hi Entrepreneurs,
A few questions came in during this week's Mentor Mondays about trademarking your business name.
First, I am not a lawyer and cannot provide legal advice. That said, I can tell you what I did when launching Nopalera.
As soon as I decided I was going to launch my brand, I did two two things:
1/ I searched the USPTO website to make sure nobody else had already trademarked the name in my specific class. A restaurant with the name Nopalera does not cause confusion for a cosmetics company Nopalera. Think about MAC make up and MAC computers. They are two different classes. When you file for your trademarks it will be by class. And you will pay by class as well.
Once I saw that the name was in the clear I started my trademark process. I have experience doing my own trademarks from my career as a musician. If you have no experience doing them yourself, hire professional help. Check out LegalMiga.
Then....
2/ I bought the domains for my name right away. Domains are fairly inexpensive and since you have to pay to renew them annually, there's no harm in buying all the ones you think you will use and letting the duds expire.
If you know you are going to expand into other countries, you will need to file in those countries as well. You will want to hire a lawyer for this. Every country has its own trademark laws and it's possible for someone else to file and own your name in another country before you. The Michael Jordan case is an example of this.
Securing your trademarks and domains are prime examples of investments that get made before you make your first sale.
As I mentioned during the IG live session, I recommend you make decisions based on where you want to go. Not based on your current circumstances. I know it's hard because you feel strapped for cash. You don't need to pay for everything at the same time! My pre-launch was almost a year and half long. I used my credit card when possible to delay payments.
Ask yourself:
What kind of company are you trying to build?
What does your business look like in a year? In two years?
Work backwards from there.
Watch the IG Live reply here.
Submit your questions for the next Mentor Monday session here.