Trademarks & Copyrights Essentials

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0:35That's right. Each week we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on, and the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to How to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you?

1:05I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, a.k.a. neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is brought to you by PNC Bank. A lot of people think podcasts about work are boring. And sure, they definitely can be. But understanding a professional's routine shows us how they achieve their success little by little, day after day.

1:47It's like banking with PNC Bank. It might seem boring to save, plan, and make calculated decisions with your bank. But keeping your money boring is what helps you live a more happily fulfilled life. PNC Bank, brilliantly boring since 1865. Brilliantly boring since 1865 is a service mark of the PNC Financial Service Group, Inc. PNC Bank, National Association, member FDIC. Earners, what's up? You ever walk into a small business and everything just works? Like the checkout is fast, the receipts are digital. tipping is a breeze and you're out the door before the line even builds odds are they're using square we love supporting businesses that run on square because it just feels seamless whether it's a local coffee shop a vendor at a pop-up market or even one of our merch partners square makes it easy for them to take payments manage inventory and run their business with confidence all from one simple system if you're a business owner or even just thinking about launching something soon Square is hands down one of the best tools out there to help you start, run, and grow.

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3:39So I'll break it down for you. So like a copyright, you can protect a photograph, a painting, a picture, you know, songs, art. It cannot be in your head, but it has to be fixed into a tangible medium. There it goes. Dirk, yo. Yes. Dirk has to come in an interview. Represent Chicago. But it's okay. That was a good. We'll copyright that sound. Yes. Right? And so here's the thing with the copyright. A lot of entrepreneurs don't understand that whoever the creator of the copyright is, that is who is the owner of the copyright. Under the law, it said the creator who births the creation is the copyright owner.

4:23Now, why is that important? Because as entrepreneurs, we hire graphic designers. We hire photographers. We hire people to come in and create creative works for our businesses, right? Have you ever hired someone to create a logo for you? Yeah. Yeah, right? And by paying them, you think you own that logo. It sure is right. Well, I know different, but yeah. Yeah, right? Most people, and it sounds like it makes sense, but unfortunately, because they created the logo, they're actually the copyright owner of the logo unless you have them transfer their rights in writing. Now, some people think, well, it can be an oral.

5:02No, it has to be in writing. And so usually you will have them transfer it through a work for hire agreement. So like a company like Disney, who is creating amazing copyrights and multiple copyrights, the company is not creating. It's actually people there. But all of those people who are creating it, they're on work for higher agreement. So, OK. So how do you increase the value of a trademark? I always tell people you have to start with great quality products and services for your the value of your trademarks to increase and go up. Right. Right. You know, people I'm a brand buyer. Right. I like certain brands like it's certain soaps that I use.

5:45I'm only going to use a certain type of deodorant. Right. Like I'm a brand buyer and a lot of people are. Right. Like some people I don't drink pop anymore. We call it pop from Chicago. Right. What do y 'all call it here in New York? Soda. Soda. Yeah. OK. So are you guys like a Coca-Cola or Pepsi kind of? oh man it's gonna be tough if i had to it probably be coke it'd be coke oh my god you're probably gonna get in trouble because you're from new york right and they like it's a real battle with pepsi and coke what about you i don't drink soda but if you if you had to because i don't drink it either but i have a pick if i have to pick one if i had to i don't know i would probably say coca-cola because i think that the brand is stronger than pepsi i just identified as a strong like i don't eat fast food.

6:32If I had to, I would probably, McDonald's is a stronger brand than Wendy's. Right. So the fact that he just has that mentally in his mind that these brands are stronger, right? It's because of how they are boldly and notoriously representing the brand in the marketplace. And as business owners, that's what we have to do in order to increase the value, right? You guys did a great job with increasing the value of earning your leisure, right? And so now people want to be attached to it they want to be a part of it and so it's just like you got to just like you know for me when i picked the biz lawyer as a instagram handle i was just trying to pick a cute name on instagram but because my services is great my team is great now people want to make sure when they do their trademarks they do it with the biz lawyer because they know the type of quality of services is going to come with it and so that increases our revenue and our value this is something that we've learned we followed a bunch of trademarks you talk about the time it takes right so obviously we got the first step we get the attorney we did the search talk about the time it takes i know you brought up first uh rights too that's important too yeah can we can we get into that a little bit yeah for sure so first thing first you want to do the search and you know a lot of times people it's important you do a search not only with the uspto.gov but also to see who is using the trademark in the marketplace or whatever because common law rights can fall into play as well.

7:56But then once we do the search, we actually will issue an opinion letter with the search results. We'll go through the opinion letter. You know, one thing that I think is very different about our firm, outside of the fact of it's probably been, you know, black owned by me, the female. But one thing we do is we counsel and advise our clients based on the search results. Not a lot of people do that. They do the research and they just file the application or they don't, right? We tell our clients and also too, if we see challenges, we create strategy on how we can possibly win a trademark, especially if the client already has invested thousands of dollars into the brand.

8:34But once we do that, we get it on file. Now, here's the thing. A trademark application used to take about three to four months for the government to review it. But now because after COVID, I feel like a lot of people was empowered to become entrepreneurs, but also a lot of people are more educated. So people have filed trademarks. Actually, during COVID, the most trademarks ever in history was filed. Really? Yes. And so now it has pushed the government review time back to actually eight to nine months. So now it takes them eight to nine months just to review the application. Once they review the application, they can either approve it or issue an office action.

9:15If they approve it, it goes to what's called publication for opposition. Now, publication for opposition allows anyone in the public 30 days to oppose your trademark. This is why it's important that we file trademarks with integrity and also, too, we watch our trademarks. Because if you file a trademark like I'm Coco Chanel, Chanel is going to come and oppose the trademark and probably send you a cease and desist letter right away when they file out that you filed the trademark. But the good thing about it is, is that as a brand owner, you want to watch your trademark because people can be filing things confusingly similar to your brand as well.

9:53And the government, they try to stop things, but they sometimes they let things through as well. So once you go through that phase, if no one opposed the trademark, you can have registration within 12 weeks from the 30 day deadline. So that can take about nine to 18 months right now to get a trademark registered. I'm sorry, 12 to 18 months to get it registered. But let's go back. If the government takes issue with the application, they can issue an office action. Bless you. The office action can require either a substantive response or a non-substantive response. If it's a non-substantive response, that means something minor is going on and the government wants you to fix it.

10:30And that's no problem. But if it's a substantive issue, the government is refusing it on a likelihood of confusion or failure to function as a trademark or the trademark being merely descriptive. And you will have to present legal arguments with a legal brief to argue why the person should have the trademark. An illegal alien from Guatemala charged with raping a child in Massachusetts. An MS-13 gang member from El Salvador accused of murdering a Texas man. A Venezuelan charged with filming and selling child pornography in Michigan. These are just some of the heinous migrant criminals caught because of President Donald J.

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11:47Hey, it's Joel. And Matt. From HowToMoney. If your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape, we've got your back. Prices, they're still high, and the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right. Each week we break down what's happening with your money. the most important issues to focus on and the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to How to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have?

12:23Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, a.k.a. neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom Podcast.

13:02Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? I sat down with psychologist Dr. Steve Poulter to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name. Part of the way through the valley of despair is realizing this has happened, and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now. Listen to The Mailroom on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.