Comments on: Common Legal Mistakes Made by Small Business Owners http://www.isbdc.org/common-legal-mistakes-made-by-small-business-owners/ Business. Smarter. Thu, 14 Mar 2013 20:06:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Hoosier Heartland ISBDC http://www.isbdc.org/common-legal-mistakes-made-by-small-business-owners/#comment-13353 Hoosier Heartland ISBDC Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:10:27 +0000 http://www.isbdc.org/?p=4506#comment-13353 Agree Kenan! Thanks for pointing that out. Many business owners think once they register their name with the “state”–sometimes that means setting up a formal business entity, or others think that by registering with the local recorder– their business name is protected. That has nothing to do with securing their domain name and other website addresses. With the latest Supreme Court opinions regarding IP and trademarks this area is definitely going to be a hot spot. — Heather Reynolds

]]> By: Kenan Farrell http://www.isbdc.org/common-legal-mistakes-made-by-small-business-owners/#comment-13339 Kenan Farrell Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:34:51 +0000 http://www.isbdc.org/?p=4506#comment-13339 All good points. Additionally, many small businesses select their company name with little or no thought to trademark ramifications (and accordingly may be liable for trademark infringement from Day One). I recommend these minimum guidelines for safe trademark use:

1. At a bare minimum, do a Google search for similar trademarks
2. Claim your domain name(s), Facebook username, Twitter account, YouTube account, etc.
3. Always use a proper trademark notice (™ for common law rights, ® if you’ve obtained registration)
4. When budget permits, seek federal registration

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