First things first - don’t fall over in shock that I’m actually writing a blog post!  I’m following through on a recent commitment I made to myself to be more proactive and present here on my blog.  So if you have specific questions you’d like to see answered, leave me a comment to drop me an e-mail and I’ll do my best to respond in a future post!

After recently helping a client successfully register a trademark that had been denied three times, I realized that many of you might be doing the DIY approach to trademarks.  While I’ll always recommend using an attorney with lots of trademark experience over doing it yourself, I know many of you won’t take that advice!

John Grant and Mona Ibrahim have put together a Trademark Law Basics for Small Business seminar that would be a great place for you to start when thinking about naming your business/product and contemplating the trademark process.  It’s hosted through Biznik; if you’re not a member already, you can join for free (though I highly recommend upgrading to a paid membership - the benefits are worth it!).  The seminar is on Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. and the location details and RSVP information is on the event page.

You owe it to your business to know as much as you can about choosing a name and understanding the trademark process.  Plus, this seminar will help you make an informed decision on whether to use an attorney to register your trademark or whether to take the DIY approach.

If you go, tell John I sent you!