I'm no different from my client. I want to find a good deal for my money because I want to "invest smartly". Sometimes, I will DIY things, which comes from my desire to create and my desire to be a good steward of my money. In a some situations, I come out better DIYing the project. My website is one of those DIY projects that turned out well. When I started adding complex components (like my firm's membership space), however, I reached out to a specialist. Not only did I save my time, which is finite, I was also able to get a much better product and some improvement in other areas of my website. The same goes for attorney services.
Almost everyone thinks that they can save a few dollars on legal services by "getting the attorney started" or doing it themself. How hard can it be? It's just filling out a form, right? No. It's not just filling out a form.
The layperson needs to understand that the forms you are just "filling out" were created with a legal foundation in mind. They are there to ensure compliance with applicable laws. If you don't know those laws and how to conduct legal analysis to comply with those laws, you may really mess yourself or your business' legal trajectory up. An attorney may not always get it perfect, however, they should at least be able to get you to be in compliance for the most part; hopefully more than a layperson.
Here's why. If you did not go to law school, you will either go into the transaction work blindly or you will spend precious hours, where you could be working on your business, researching the laws to properly complete the forms. An attorney that works in that field has gone through the grueling three years of law school. Some have gone an additional year or two to obtain a Master of Laws in their particular field. Their field of practice is what they specialize in and have seen day in and day out. They've read and lived through cases similar and, sometimes, more complicated than your case. They have the knowledge and experience to conduct the assignment they are advertising that they can accomplish.
Trademark services are no different. Though the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board does not require an attorney's license to be a trademark practitioner, an licensed attorney can take your case much further, if the case is requiring of such.
A trademark application is not just filling out a form online and submitting a specimen for review and approval. There are steps involved that an attorney utilizes to ensure that (1) your mark can be registered and (2) the best way to get your mark registered. Without those skills, you may be left with a Final Office Action sent by the trademark examining attorney stating that your requested mark is not registrable. This leaves your business without the protection it needs to preserve your business' brand identity for forever it may seem.
Take for example the client that comes to the attorney from the outset and requests the attorney submit a trademark application for the image or word(s) that are identified with their business. Not only may you be able to obtain the services at a flat rate, there is a high likelihood that your mark will be registered timely and with the protection it deserves.
On the opposite side of the spectrum is the client that comes to you with an Office Action, Final or Non-Final, and is requesting assistance to get their beloved mark registered. Not only will you incur more attorney hours to fix the trademark situation, you may not be able to obtain registration for the mark you applied to be registered. It takes more attorney time to fix an issue than it takes to complete a task from the beginning.
So what happens if you don't get your mark protected? It's just not registered right?! No big deal. Well, take into consideration the Baby Ruth candy bar. Otto Schnering of Curtiss Candy Co. created a candy bar in the 1920s and wanted to name the candy bar after the famous baseball player, Babe Ruth. Ruth agreed. Yet, in the eyes of Mr. Schnering, Ruth was too expensive for the endorsement and licensing. Mr. Schnering, in return, changed the name of the candy bar to Baby Ruth and trademarked the name in May of 1924. The candy bar took off. Years later, Babe Ruth wanted to release his own candy bar, naming it Ruth's Home Run candy bar. Ruth wanted to have his name associated with his candy bar and went to register the trademark associated with his name and the candy bar, "Babe Ruth", on June 2, 1926.
When Mr. Schnering found out, he opposed the trademark application. 18 C.C.P.A. 1471. At the end of litigation, the trademark court declined Babe Ruth's trademark application based on a likelihood of confusion with the Baby Ruth candy bar. The court determined that "Babe" was too close to "Baby" and would incur a likelihood of confusion in the market regarding the two candy bars. (Mr. Schnering stated that the candy bar was not named after the athlete and instead was named after Grover Cleveland's deceased daughter, Ruth, who died as a pre-teen.). Have you ever heard of Ruth's Home Run candy bar? Probably not. You have, however, heard of Baby Ruth. This is all because of attorneys. Attorneys that obtained the trademark registration timely and attorneys that fought in litigation to maintain the value of the registered trademark.
So what do we learn from that? Legal counsel is worth the investment. Can you be your own attorney? You can. Can you compete with an attorney? Maybe. It happens. For the most part, however, without a law degree, you are at a disadvantage regarding legal issues. The moral of the story is: get an attorney to assist and counsel you with your trademark application and then to watch over your trademark to ensure that the mark is not diluted or absconded with by another person or company. So, though it might seem like you are saving money to complete your trademark application by DIYing the application, your investment may be better served by paying the attorney's fee and having them complete the service.
If you are a business owner, looking to get your image or word(s) trademarked, feel free to give my office a call at 866-823-9527 or click here to schedule a consultation. I look forward to working with you.
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