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If I Registered My Name As A Trademark, Do I Have to Use The Trademark Symbol Every Time I Write My Name?

No, that would be quite awkward, wouldn't it? Use the TM or "circle R" symbol when you are using your name as a trademark. How do you know when you're using it as a trademark? You're using it as a trademark if you're using the term as the source from which your goods emanate. For example, if your name is MORGAN FREEMAN, and you have a radio show, and you've registered the name 'MORGAN FREEMAN' for your radio show, you would use the trademark symbol when you're writing the name of your radio show. But when you're signing your name for the restaurant bill, you're not using your name as a trademark, so you don't need to put the "circle R" when you write your name down.

Imagine how awkward it would be if you had to use the "circle R" symbol every time you or anyone else wrote your name! Oh, and you also can't register a trademark to prevent other people from uttering your name. You have rights only inasmuch as your name is used along with your goods or related goods in a manner that would reasonably be construed as a trademark. Trademarks aren't a 'magic bullet' that you can use to stop other people from writing about you or talking about you.

Trademark Doctor offers comprehensive wellness care for your very important brands.

Book a consultation with attorney Angela Langlotz to discuss a trademark issue. Talk with her for 15 minutes and discover if a trademark is right for you. https://bookme.name/langlotz/website

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A Spectacularly Bad Idea! Don't Do This!
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In the next installment of "things people do to get themselves sued" we have this bad example. He'll probably hate on me for this, but I'm not doing it to be mean. I'm pointing it out because it's so common.

Using another's trademark is ALWAYS a bad idea. Always. You may get away with it for a while, but why risk getting sued?

Today I want to share an example of a spectacularly bad branding idea. I'm going to spend the next three minutes discussing this. I'm Angela Langlotz, trademark and copyright attorney. I go live here on weekdays to talk trademarks and copyrights. Don't forget to like and subscribe to get all my latest stuff, and if you have any questions, drop them into the comments below. I'll answer them on a future Live.

So a friend sent me this. It's from the fellow marketer. And I just want to preface this by saying, I'm not trying to pick on anybody, and I'm not trying to be mean. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but when I see these things, they make really good examples of what not to do. And I like to talk about these because they are so common and such a bad idea that I don't want you to see it and emulate it.

What am I talking about? So earlier this week, I talked about how we should all stay away from famous brands. Don't play off them. Don't quote unquote, parody them or do things that we think is parody. Just stay completely away from them.

Build your own brand. And then yesterday, somebody sent me this. Now, unless you've been living in a cave for the last 50 years, you will surely recognize this golden arch symbol, and I've blocked out this person's contact information on the card because I'm really not trying to hold them up to public ridicule. But I really want you to understand why this is such a bad idea. Now, what do we have here?

We have the McDonald's Golden Arches, but upside down, right? But even upside down, they are so recognizable that you can't look at this and not think about the golden arches, right? And then the other side of the card says "branding served all day." And that's something a lot of fast food restaurants say.

We serve breakfast all day. We serve all day, whatever. And then also, you'll notice that the colors are the McDonald's colors. It's the red and yellow with the McDonald's upside down golden arches. This is a spectacularly bad idea.

Why? Well, because this person isn't associated with McDonald's at all. But he's creating through the use of their trademark, even though he's using it upside down, it's still recognizable -- through the use of their trademark to sort of advertise his branding services. And yes, this is intended to be a parody. I get it.

However, he's creating a false association between him and his business and McDonald's, so the McDonald's company might get pi**ed off and say, hey, you don't work for McDonald's. You're not one of our contractors. You're not associated with us at all. So why are you using our trademarks? Cease and desist.

The other thing is, it's a little bit cheesy, in my opinion, because he's not associated with McDonald's, and it just seems a little bit lazy to me to do this because it's just not very creative, and it's not very original. And I just wish that people wouldn't do this because it just comes off as kind of lazy and scammy. To me anyway. And I don't think anybody wants their business associated with lazy and scammy. Also, the other thing, too, is McDonald's is fast food. Mcdonald's selling point is consistency and everything is the same.

Now, if you're seeking out marketing services, you probably don't want McDonald's. You probably want something that's customized for you and your business, not some cookie cutter, we make all of our burgers the same type of thing. So I think that not only is this branding, if you want to call it that, giving the wrong impression about this person's services, it's also kind of lazy and scammy. So please, folks, don't do this.

It's just not a good idea. And you're using somebody else's trademark without their permission, which is surely going to get some kind of backlash for you, whether from McDonald's or from other people who just think you're being cheesy. All right, so don't use other people's trademarks. I'm going to continue to preach about that until you all get tired of hearing about it. But every time I find a juicy example like this, I will share it with you.

I'm Angela Langlotz. Find me online at trademarkdoctor.net. I'm also on YouTube at video.

Trademarkdoctor.net/Youtube. I'm also on TikTok. I have a channel there. Just go to Trademark.

Doctor and I'm also on Facebook at Facebook.Com/trademarkdoctor.

How Do I Transfer A Trademark To A New Owner?

If you sell or otherwise transfer your trademark to a new owner, you need to be sure to put that transfer on file with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The owner of record in the trademark database is the only entity that has the right to renew the trademark. So if the current owner and the owner listed on the trademark registration don't match, you may have a problem renewing your trademark.

If you sell a trademark, it's really important to remember to make this transfer. If you overlook this, you may have a problem later when it's time to renew your trademark.

Trademark questions? Drop them in the comments below, and I'll answer them in future live video! Find me online at https://trademarkdoctor.net. I have a huge video library at video.trademarkdoctor.net/YouTube .