Attorneys We Stop The Competition
From Raiding Your Business.
Our Job for You
Your business is growing — you’ve worked hard to build it. Maybe you’ve already started branding, or perhaps it’s just now crossing your mind.
The Good News: your customers notice.
The Bad News is that your competition notices, too, and tries to steal your customers away.
We are the trademark lawyers who protect your business from your brand’s predators, so you can relax, grow your sales, and expand your revenue.
What You Need
We provide these U.S. Trademark services to growing businesses and entrepreneurs worldwide:
- Trademark and Branding Strategy
- Trademark Searches (Availability)
- Freedom to Use (Clearance) Opinions
- Trademark Applications
- Office Action Responses
- Statement of Use Filings
- Trademark Renewal
- Trademark Monitoring and Policing
- Trademark Assignments and Recording Change of Trademark Ownership
- Trademark Portfolio Management
- Trademark Opposition
- Trademark Cancellation
- Amazon Brand Management
- Shopify Brand Management
What You Need
We provide these U.S. Trademark services to growing businesses and entrepreneurs worldwide:
- Trademark and Branding Strategy
- Trademark Searches (Availability)
- Freedom to Use (Clearance) Opinions
- Trademark Applications
- Office Action Responses
- Statement of Use Filings
- Trademark Renewal
- Trademark Monitoring and Policing
- Trademark Assignments and Recording Change of Trademark Ownership
- Trademark Portfolio Management
- Trademark Opposition
- Trademark Cancellation
- Amazon Brand Management
- Shopify Brand Management
Our Exclusive Trademark System
Educate, Evaluate & Equip
- Fast Processing
- Confidential Pre-Search Interview Helps Prevent Missteps
- Easy to Follow Classes Mean You’ll Understand Every Step
- Action-Sheets and Checklists
- Federal Trademark Search
- State Trademark Search
- Common Law Trademark Search
- Domain and Social Media Search
- Attorney Consultation / Strategy Session
- Trademark Application Process Budgeting
- Application Status Monitoring
- Status Updates
- It Only Takes 5 Minutes to Get Started
- If We Can’t Help You Get Your Money Back
STEP #1: Educate & Enroll
Free and No Obligation.
Let's get on the same page.
Time to Complete: Less than 1 Minute.
Just like your customers, your brand also has unique needs. After enrolling, we educate each other.
First we learn about you, your business and the goals you have for your brand. Second, you'll learn about the registration process via our proprietary video library and Action-Sheets.
STEP #2 Evaluate
Trademark searches empower us to craft a smart plan.
Time to Complete: 2-7 Days.
Second, we cut-through the lawyer-speak and outline your options in plain English.
When finished, you will have explored what we call "the Two Big Questions":
1. Can You Even Use It? and
2. Can You Own the Rights to It?
More importantly, you'll have a plan you have confidence in.
STEP #3: Equip
Putting your plan into action.
Time to Complete: 2+ Days.
We implement your plan, which typically begins with filing trademark applications. It may also include an Amazon Branding program or Shopify Branding program. If you have immediate needs for enforcement or take-down notices, those start as well.
When complete, your applications are pending.
STEP #4: Examine
The Trademark Office and the Public scrutinize your Application.
Time to Complete: 9 - 24 Months.
It begins with an Office Examination by an Examining Attorney (the "EA"). The EA registers rejections and objections in letters called Office Actions. You must respond to these correctly to keep your application alive. Once (and if) the EA believes that your application is in order, the mark is Published.
Next, the public has the opportunity to examine your mark by registering "Opposition" to your mark's registration. Here's where preparation really pays off, because carelessly filed applications can trigger unnecessary Opposition Proceedings, and these proceedings can be lengthy, and expensive.
STEP #5: Enforce
Building your defenses.
Time to Complete: Ongoing for the Life of the Registration.
Step 5 is a journey of a thousand miles.
After you have secured your registration, under US Trademark Law, to keep it and strengthen it you must 'police it.' Policing is a fancy way of saying that you can't just let anyone use your mark, and it involves four activities:
- monitoring databases and the internet to spot potential infringers
- notifying the likely infringers that you have a registered mark
- telling the competitor-infringers to stop using your mark (to 'cease and desist)
- if necessary, litigating to force compliance with the law
My Story
I Have Over 15 Years of Experience in The Industry
Unlike most attorneys, I’m an entrepreneur — some say a successful entrepreneur. And as much as I enjoy the thought that these colleagues may be right, I certainly wasn’t always a successful entrepreneur. My first shots at starting businesses in college resulted in abandoned patent applications, zero sales and debt (not to mention late homework and shoddy lab assignments). Later, I learned hard lessons as people I trusted blatantly stole my inventions, and suppliers I trusted failed to deliver products. And, through my experience at a large law firm as well as in my own law practice, I’ve seen just about every kind of chicanery imaginable.
What our clients saying
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Larry Davis
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JT Moore
We Stop The Competition From Raiding Your Business.
We Register, Enforce and Defend Your Trademarks With Our Exclusive Trademark Process.
Recent Blog Posts
Trademark Portfolio Management
Trademark Portfolio ManagementTrademark Portfolio Management is a little bit different than strategy. Because in Portfolio Management we narrow the...
Trademark Enforcement: Notices and Cease and Desist
Trademark Enforcement: Notices and Cease and Desist So what can you do if you discover that someone is stealing your customers by using your...
Shopify Brand/ Trademark Strategy
Shopify Brand/ Trademark StrategyIf you sell on Shopify, you must have a Shopify Brand Strategy, and the Shopify Brand Strategy is all about the...
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Looking to Locate Your Business in TX? Here's Why West University Place Is A Great Choice!
Grow Your Business in West University Place, Texas.
As part of the oil-based Houston metropolitan area, West University Place was envisioned as a bedroom community for executives working in the big city when conceived in the early part of the 20th century. Today, it retains that upper-class residential ambiance which makes it an inviting place to establish a personal service retail or professional presence.
With the 5th largest concentration of households in the U.S. with incomes greater than $150,000 (the median household income exceeds $200,000), “West U” presents a market opportunity for entrepreneurs with an upscale idea for a product or service. West University Place derived its name from its proximity to Rice University in adjacent Houston. Because the town was fully built out with residential housing, much of its housing stock has been replaced with modern, larger homes by an influx of wealthy young urban professionals in the 1990s. Its population has remained stable at about 15,000 people since mid-twentieth century as property values continue to rise.
Living and working in West University Place offers the quiet experience of a bedroom community while providing access to the rest of the world via Houston’s well-developed transportation network. West University Place is connected to the commuter METRO system that services the Houston area. Houston’s highway system’s main arteries are Interstates 10, 45 and 69. For traveling far and wide, William P. Hobby Airport is the hub for Southwestern Airlines, while the newer George Bush Intercontinental Airport is a hub for United Airlines.
Want Help Growing Your Business? These Organizations Can Help!
Academics and Medicine are Big Business in “West U”
Although oil and gas provided the seed wealth of the Houston area, it is academics and medicine that fuel the local economy in West University Place. In addition to the dominating presence of Rice University, the nearby 2-square-mile Texas Medical Center in Houston, with its 54 medical institutions including 4 medical schools, employs more than 100,000 people with 20,000 physicians, researchers and other advanced degree professionals. Both the nation’s largest children’s hospital, Texas Children’s Hospital, and the largest cancer center, M.D. Anderson, are in the medical complex.
Siting Your Upscale Business in West University Place
With a wealthy and well-educated consumer market, you might consider West U for your signature products and services. The West University Place Vision 2035 is a planning mechanism for guiding the future development of the town. A few small businesses with which you may want to do business to support your local community are:
Does West University Place Have Access to World-Class Universities? You Bet!
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Rice University and West University Place
Rice University was the inspiration for the town’s name and remains a major employer of the town’s people. West University Place has the highest percentage of adults – 85% — with bachelor’s degrees in the southern United States. Besides Rice, the University of Houston is the other large, well-regarded institution of higher education which graduates 12,500 students a year with 80% staying in the Houston area. Of course, Rice University is known for outstanding academics.
In particular, these programs may be of particular interest to you as an entrepreneur:
West University Place's Not a Boring Suburb! Enjoy These Arts, Museums, Sports and Top Healthcare Options
Things to Do: West University Place Shares Houston’s Culture
Since it was officially established as a bedroom community to Houston, West University Place shares Houston’s cultural and entertainment riches, including opportunities to enjoy the arts, music, museums and professional sports. It is hard to be bored in West University Place where you are near Houston’s Museum District and not far from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Locally, residents can avail themselves of the community parks and playgrounds for casual outings. Shopping is abundant at the nearby Galleria in Houston which advertises itself as both the largest and most luxurious shopping center in Texas.
No need to worry about healthcare, as it is probably among the best in the country in your neighborhood. In West University Place, it is as likely as not that at least one of your neighbors is employed by the adjacent Texas Medical Center, a 2-square-mile facility with 54 medical related institutions including 21 hospitals, 4 medical schools, research and specialty care providers.
Thrasher Trademark Law Can Secure Your Business and Brand in West University Place, TX
As a trademark attorney who calls Texas home, Steven Thrasher has been practicing trademark law out of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro area and serving clients in the Houston area since 2002. In that time, Steve has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs escape the competitive pressures of commodity businesses. In addition to filing trademark applications, Steve solves intellectual property problems related to trademarks, patents, copyrights, and infringements.