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Are your creative ideas protected? 

Do you know if there’s a risk that your customer could be confused between your brand and someone else’s?

Is your brand and business name actually available for you to legally use?

Do words like, “Intellectual Property,” “Trademark,” and “Copyright” make you break out in hives?

Yeah, they used to stress me out, too. And I had to learn the hard way how important protecting your intellectual property really is. I’ve had my work ripped off, stolen, and sold. A few years ago, you could have done a quick Google search of “Your Brokenness is Welcome Here Sweatshirt” and you would have found dozens of knockoffs being sold that I did not sign off on.

When it first happened, I didn’t have a trademark on the phrase. I immediately had to call my lawyer and get the registration process started. Then, we waited several months for the trademark to process before we could even do anything about all the knockoffs. 

That one experience taught me a powerful lesson: When it comes to your intellectual property, it is always best to be proactive rather than reactive. I’ve since made “Register for Trademark” one of the first things I do when creating a brand or business.

Now, I want to show you the stress-free, totally manageable way for you to do the same!

Do You Really Need a Trademark?

In this episode, I brought Ticora Davis, Creative Business Attorney for Experts and Entrepreneurs, to teach us everything we need to know about protecting our brands and our creative souls.

Ticora focuses on helping entrepreneurs protect their intellectual property by ensuring they have exclusive ownership of their business name and other related brand assets. She also teaches a masterclass all about trademark law. How cool is that?

Throughout our conversation, she made the argument that a trademark is the most valuable brand asset a business owner can own but is often the least protected by creatives.

She also pointed out that when it comes to legal protection, we tend to be more reactive than proactive. In other words, it’s usually not until a business owner finds someone else has the same business name or has ripped off something they have created that they register for a trademark. 

Like I said, I learned this one the hard way a few times in the past until I finally took my own big ideas and intellectual property seriously! 

Protect Your Big Ideas

Do you want to be proactive in protecting your big ideas? 

Ready to own your intellectual property without worrying about what to do if someone copies or creates the same thing as you?

We’ve got you, girl.

Throughout the conversation, Ticora breaks down the exact steps you need to take to find out if your business name is available (or if the trademark is owned by someone else) before you name your business. She also walks us through the process of creating an IP Protection Plan with ease. 

Yes, please!  

Tune in to learn:

• The easiest way to find if the trademark you want is available

• Why www.trademarknow.com is easier to use than www.USPTO.com

• Practical steps you can take to avoid being copied

• Where to share you ideas (and where NOT to share them)

• And more!

Look, if the legal side of entrepreneurship stresses you out, this one conversation is chock full of practical advice that will help you understand the “legalese” so you can rest easy knowing that your work and creative ideas are protected. 

Be sure to grab a journal or open the note section on your phone to write all of this down. You’re going to want to take some serious notes. 

After you’ve listened, let me know below: What was the most helpful piece of advice you are taking away from this episode? How are you going to turn this insight into action immediately?

PS. To learn more about protecting your big ideas from Ticora, visit ticoradavis.com