The excitement is real as a begin to write this post. My very first trademark with the United States Patent and Trademarks Office!! A lot of patience, anxiety and excitement went into this process, but it all paid off.
To start, trademarking a good or service mark is no walk in the park- it takes creativity, research, precision, and much more. Finding a name to trademark is the very first step in the process. What is your niche? Your business? Is your business a service or more of a good? Who is your potential audience? These are all questions that must be answered before, during and after the process!
Everyday Lawtina was selected as my service mark because I felt it best represented me! Being a first- gen. Latina attorney in my family, I find it important to reach many individuals that may have gone through or is currently going through the same struggles I had when navigating the world of law school, and the career itself. I do not claim the word “Lawtina” as there is another person who has trademarked that word for their use in fashion/apparel. However- I did manage to trademark the phrase Everyday Lawtina because I am not claiming just the word Lawtina but both everyday and Lawtina and it is enough to create a distinction in marks. Also, my “mark” is for various other categories of services than is the mark “Lawtina”, so both our marks may exist without creating conflict in the other. I will say, once I start navigating my mark through the fashion and apparel sphere, thennnnn can my mark then be considered as causing an effect to the mark “Lawtina” – since both marks will now be in the same sphere of services and can easily be confusing to the consumer in fashion that both marks are different and not the same.
What exactly makes me an everyday Lawtina? Well, I hope now with my platform I am able to provide helpful and engaging content to all who seek it in the areas of everyday life as a Latina attorney and human being! As a Hispanic woman, I want to show to all Hispanic girls and women that we as a minority can accomplish what we set our hearts to (with hard work and determination). We will be the driving force in the law to help shape and mold the future lawmakers into taking actions that will benefit our people.
One of the first things I did, and anyone looking to trademark, is to search the USPTO website and Google to determine whether the mark you have in mind is already being used or registered by another (within your service or good classifications and not within). Searching for the marks that sound similar to your intended mark and fall within your class of goods or services will more than likely make it more difficult for you to obtain that mark (it will be too similar to the consumers to tell them apart). Hiring an intellectual property attorney is ALWAYS recommended (especially one that specializes in trademarks).
Always, always, always do your research and when in doubt – contact an attorney in the area of intellectual property to help answer your questions and help navigate you through the process.
If there’s any questions you may have on the topic of trademarks and or how I obtained mine, please reach out! I would love to answer any questions or help in anyway I can ☺️
