Trademarking for Crafters

Some words of advice from Louise of, The Hole Thing

Have you ever thought of trademarking the name of your business? It might be a smart thing to do so that someone else doesn’t own the rights to your business name or the name that you have chosen for an idea of yours. The good news is that it is easy to do. I did it myself for $275 without hiring a lawyer- simply by following these steps:

1. The first step is to do a search to see if someone else already owns the name that you want to trademark. That is done here. Select the “New User Form Search (Basic)” option. Under “Search Term” put the name that you would like to trademark and then hit the “Submit Query” button. Ignore anything that comes up as “ Dead” as it has expired. It is also important to know that you trademark names by category. For instance, the name of my business is THE HOLE THING and my trademark is for goods and services that include sweaters and scarves etc. Someone else can come along and buy the name THE HOLE THING for the food industry or a machine part etc. For example if they wanted to trademark THE HOLE THING to name the center of a donut they could do it.

2. Once you confirm that the name that you want to trademark is available you can trademark it. Trademarking is done through the US government as well here. After you click on 'Trademarks' (on the left hand side) then click on 'File Online Forms (TEAS)' and then click on 'File new application'. Then click on 'Trademark/Servicemark Application' which is the first choice at the top of the page. Then click on the 'TEAS Plus Form” at the top of the next page and then click “Continue” at the bottom of that page. Now you are ready to fill out the application. I had to have a photo of my garment label and maybe a picture of one of my sweaters ready to load up onto the application. The application is timed - you only have an hour to do it or you lose everything. It is probably enough time if you have your photos ready. It takes about 6 months to get your trademark confirmation from the government. They will send you a postcard in the mail. In the meantime you can put TM next to the name that you are Trademarking. After your trademark is approved you can put the R inside the circle (for registered trademark.)

Now get to it!