Is Establishing an Entity the Same as Registering a Trademark?

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Richard Rimer

March 31, 2022

There are so many things business owners must know, and they can’t be an expert on everything.  I use my 19 years of legal experience to help business owners in one area– protecting their brands.

One common question I get is whether setting up an LLC is the same as protecting a brand.  In a word, No.  Some reasons for this include the fact that an entity is established with the Secretary of State in one of the 50 states, the Secretary of State does not compare the entity name to dba filings filed with the various county courts, some companies use brand names not related to their entity name and some brand names are used by sole proprietorships which are not registered at all.  And no, it doesn’t matter if the entity name is registered with the IRS or as a domain name.  None of these things are proxies for protecting your brand through steps such as registering your brand with the USPTO.

I’m a good fit for business owners who want things done by the book.  You realize that your business is growing and you don’t want unnecessary risk.  There aren’t many success stories of companies who were sued at an early age for infringement, so failing to protect your brand name definitely qualifies as an unnecessary risk.

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