Too Legit To Quit

It's official... We've received our approval from the USPTO for our federally protected trademark. The process took a patent and copyright attorney, 2 years of submissions/revisions/waiting, and thousands of dollars, but we are super happy to report that everything has finally gone through and we're now able to protect our interests throughout the United States. Yeah, I know... This probably doesn't seem like that big of a deal to most people, but WE ARE EXCITED and just wanted to let you all share in that.

For those of you reading this and wondering what I'm even talking about... Here's a small excerpt from ye ol' wikipedia...

A trademark identifies the brand owner of a particular product or service. Trademarks can be used by others under licensing agreements; for example, Bullyland obtained a license to produce Smurf figurines; the Lego Group purchased a license from Lucasfilm to be allowed to launch Lego Star Wars; TT Toys Toys is a manufacturer of licensed ride-on replica cars for children.^[6] The unauthorized usage of trademarks by producing and trading counterfeit consumer goods is known as brand piracy.

The owner of a trademark may pursue legal action against trademark infringement. Most countries require formal trademark registration as a precondition for pursuing this type of action. The United States, Canada, and other countries also recognize common law trademark rights, which means action can be taken to protect any unregistered trademark if it is in use. Still, common law trademarks offer to the holder, in general, less legal protection than registered trademarks.

A trademark may be designated by the following symbols:

™ (the "trademark symbol", which is the letters "TM" in superscript, for an unregistered trademark, a mark used to promote or brand goods)
℠ (which is the letters "SM" in superscript, for an unregistered service mark, a mark used to promote or brand services)
® (the letter "R" surrounded by a circle, for a registered trademark)

The three symbols associated with trademarks represent the status of a mark and accordingly its level of protection. While ™ can be used with any common law usage of a mark, ® may only be used by the owner of a mark following registration with the relevant national authority, such as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or PTO) or Indian Patent Office (IPO). The proper manner to display either symbol is immediately following the mark in superscript style.^[7]

Basically, it allows for us to protect the brand that we've been cultivating and developing for the last decade. It makes it easier for us to defend the name from being diluted by other entities attempting to utilize the same name or something similar. You know, nerdy legal/business stuff.

While the process was lengthy, it was also a great way to learn about trademarks and intellectual property protection. Life is a classroom and this provided a number of valuable lessons along the way. So, when you're looking at our website and notice that the little TM has transformed into an imprisoned R, you now know why!