• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Non-Profit

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

T

thinzley

Guest
What is the name of your state? IL

I run a local support group and we are looking to trademark our name & logo, all the information I have research is showing some high cost to do so. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a place or idea where it won't cost a lot to trademark our information. Again we are a non-profit group. We are having problems with a local facility that is trying to step in and take over our group and use the name with out permission yet everyone knows who chose the name, and how long we have had the name.

I appreciate your help and time and look forward hearing your suggestions.


Theresa - IL
 


divgradcurl

Senior Member
I run a local support group and we are looking to trademark our name & logo, all the information I have research is showing some high cost to do so. I'm wondering if anyone knows of a place or idea where it won't cost a lot to trademark our information. Again we are a non-profit group. We are having problems with a local facility that is trying to step in and take over our group and use the name with out permission yet everyone knows who chose the name, and how long we have had the name.
If you are unwilling or unable to pursue Federal trademark registration, you still have some protections, although they are much more limited. Just using the name and mark alone is sufficient to provide some common-law trademark protection; there are both federal and state common-law trademark rights.

However, the more difficult problem comes if you ever need to enforce your rights -- you would need to prove when you started using the name, that the name and mark are "trademarkable" in the first place, and that the alleged infringer had "notice" of your use -- all of which is presumed by the court if you have a federally registered trademark.

You could look to the Secretary of State in Illinois and see if Illinois has a registry of State trademarks -- many states do, and it is usually significantly easier to obtain state trademark protection than it is for federal protection -- however, the trademark would be difficult to enforce outside of Illinois, and the protections are typically much more limited than for a federally-registered trademark.

Obviously using a trademark attorney can get expensive, but you can register a trademark on your own if you are willing to take some time to study up on some things -- the USPTO will even help you. Then the only cost would be your time, effort, and the filing and maintenance fees. Go here:
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/tmfaq.htm
to read the USPTO's trademark FAQ, and see if it is something you might consider doing on your own.
 
T

thinzley

Guest
Thank you very much, appreciate you getting back to me. We would love to do the Federal aspect of it, just the cost that is really killing us the group doesn't have persay $400 to spend and though they are willing to help it would take some time to raise that and possibly more money.

But nevertheless..... great forum and again I appreciate your time.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top