In the fourth episode of Selling on Giants: Creating a Business Name & Copyrights, the guest speaker is Marvin Rannells, an experienced lawyer from Counsel in House, talks about the process of “Creating a Business Name & Copyrights”.
In this episode, Marvin a lawyer with a deep understanding of business, organizational, commercial, and contract issues, will dive deep into the crucial aspects of naming your business and protecting your intellectual property rights. Whether you’re an established business or just starting out, “Creating a Business Name & Copyrights” provides valuable guidance on avoiding legal pitfalls and ensuring your business name and creative works are legally protected. Tune in to this episode to gain a deeper understanding of the legal considerations surrounding naming your business and securing your intellectual property rights.
Key takeaways: / Short Summary:
Creating a Business Name and Copyrights for eCommerce Marketplace
- If a mistake is made in choosing a business name, it can be costly and difficult to rebrand later on.
- Businesses should consult with an attorney to ensure compliance with legal requirements and avoid infringement on other trademarks or copyrights.
Naming Your Business for Brand Recognition
- Choosing a great business name is key to getting your business off the ground. It saves you from potential complications down the road.
- Be careful when selecting a name; oftentimes, someone else has already thought of it. Do a web search to ensure it’s not taken by a similar or misleading name.
- Be specific and make sure people understand what you’re selling. For example, if you sell shower speakers, the name should reflect that.
- Don’t simply name the business after yourself, as that may not work for a product.
- Clean Energy Drink provides a great example of how to approach a company name. Use general search terms to make sure your business is easily found by potential clients.
Naming Your Business and Brand
- Search for trademarks, go to the U.S. Trade and Patent Office website, which is ustpo.org, and use the search function to see if someone is already using the name you have in mind.
- If someone has already beaten you to the punch, you can still play with words using variations of the name you want to use, as long as you do not use someone else’s name.
- When setting up your store on Amazon, use search terms that include words like “clean” but be sure not to use “clean energy drinks” as the name of your product as it is already taken.
- In naming your company, consider what type of company you want to be and seek legal advice from an attorney to ensure you don’t make costly mistakes.
- If a mistake is made in choosing a business name, it can be costly and difficult to rebrand later on.
- Businesses should consult with an attorney to ensure compliance with legal requirements and avoid infringement on other trademarks or copyrights.
Registering a Company Name and Fictitious Name
- To name a company, check the state’s website for corporate information, e.g., Sunbiz.org, to see if the name is available.
- Always register both the corporation and fictitious name, which is the name of the product, and make sure they’re protected within the state before selling any item.
- It is essential to protect the product name from being taken by someone else who notices the product name is not registered.
- If another company uses a product’s name that is already registered in a given state, the company could be shut down by the registered owner.
- Nationwide protection is not automatically granted; companies would have to apply for it.
Importance of Trademarking Your Business Name
- If you plan to sell your products outside your state, it is important to trademark your business name. This is especially important if you sell online or plan to use your business name on popular platforms like Amazon or Google.
- Trademarking your business name provides protection for your brand. For example, if you register “Clean Energy Drinks” and a specific logo to the United States Trade and Patent Office, no one else can use that exact combination of words and logo for their business.
- While it is possible to register a trademark yourself, it can get complicated and mistakes can lead to additional costs. It is recommended to hire an attorney to handle the trademark registration process to avoid these mistakes.
- It is important to have things done correctly in the beginning as the cost of correcting mistakes in the end can be significantly higher.
- Despite the challenges, entrepreneurs need to understand the importance of trademarking their business name and the protection it provides to their hard work.
Importance of Protecting Your Brand in the Beginning
- It takes a lot of work to get a brand to the market, but protecting it is essential.
- Conduct thorough searches of state records, trademarks, and other online databases.
- Avoid using terms that may create issues with other brands and come up with unique and distinct names.
- If the brand name is taken, add another name to it.
- Ensure that nobody else can take that name away from you by getting everything done beforehand.
Potential Actions by Other Brands That May Result in Your Brand Being Taken Down
- Clean energy drinks that are named similarly to another brand can potentially cause a takedown request from the other brand.
- As a seller on Amazon, building up a good reputation and reviews can help you climb up search results.
- Selling more products may bring attention from other brands who may notice and take down your product.
- Takedown requests are filed by other brands claiming their brand name is being used.
- Amazon can agree to takedown requests and take down the product even if there was no intentional wrongdoing.
- Climbing up the ladder means going from a seller central account to a brand registry and to finally Amazon Legal to resolve issues.
- Necessary information like trademark and business information, ASIN, and merchant account token number must be provided for Amazon Legal to take action.
- Complaints will be given a claim number, which will then go back down to the reseller for resolution.
Challenges of Amazon Marketplace Management
- Getting issues fixed in Brand Central can take months, potentially putting sellers out of business.
- BellaVix offers personalized marketplace management services to help grow your brand and stand out from the competition.
- Amazon suspensions can take months to resolve, with no guarantee of quick reinstatement.
- Speaking to a live person at Amazon is difficult, requiring all information to be conveyed via email.
- There are certain situations, such as lacking FDA approval for a product, where Amazon may refuse to reinstate a seller’s store, making some issues particularly challenging.
Navigating Selling on Amazon
- Getting all the information together and checking all the boxes may help get products unsuspended quickly.
- Amazon does not prioritize individual brands and does not always act in good faith.
- It is important to have everything done correctly to prevent issues with Amazon.
- Some people have been selling on Amazon for years without problems, while others have had their products taken down for no apparent reason.
- There is a hierarchy within Amazon, with Legal being a step up from Brand Registry, which is a step up from Seller Central.
- Understanding how to speak to Amazon in their language can help expedite the process of getting your product unsuspended.
Tips for Effective Communication with Amazon Support
- Offer your product in different pack sizes by creating different ASIN numbers for each pack size.
- Give Amazon all the information they need to address your specific issue, including your name, company name, product name, merchant token number, and a clear description of the problem.
- Include details about any complaints or suspensions, such as the complaint number, to help Amazon quickly connect the dots and address your issue.
- Follow up with Amazon support after a reasonable amount of time if you haven’t received a response, but be aware that your case may have been transferred to a different support agent who may require additional information.
- Give Amazon at least five days before following up on a complaint, and be prepared to address multiple complaints if your case has been transferred to different agents.
Or listen to the previous episodes on the different platforms:
Links:
- LinkedIn – Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marvin-rannells-25333484/
- Branded – Linkedin: https://www.counselinhouse.com/
“Selling on Giants: The eCommerce Marketplace Show” is sponsored by BellaVix. To learn more, head over to https://sellingongiants.com/
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