Intellectual Property

[echnidna]

Just about finished building the sawmill and I want to give it a catchy product name.
If I come up with a good product name how do I protect the name from being pinched by someone. Is copyright any protection against someone trademarking over the top?

I think this is what happened to Ugg Boots, who ended up losing their product name a few years ago.

[toolbagsPLUS]

Having been down this road several years ago. Trademark is the best way to go, but it is costly and time consuming. Patents are another way but very very expensive.

However registering a name with Dept. Fair Trading, is cheap and does help establish you validity if you are registered before anyone else tries to pinch your idea.

State Gov. Small Business development office handle IP stuff, could be worth a chat to them.

I have a couple of friends currently involved in registering their ideas, both expended $100's of $1000's to stop people ripping their ideas off and they are running out of cash quick.

Just another thought, you would have to check out first, but if you have a website and put it up there then you can establish the date you named it and that may give you some protection..... not real sure though.

So think about which way you want to go and which is the most profitable for you.

Good Luck with it.

Cheers

Steve

[echnidna]

I'm aware you can spend big bucks protecting intellectual property.
I don't intend to go down the track of patent/registered design. Its not the produvt itself, its the name I want to protect.

A business name won't protect product name, and as you said trademarking is exxy.
It'd be easy enough to date a name with website or email. Its also easy to copyright a name. But I don't know if a trademark can over ride copyrights.

[fenderbelly]

will this help Bob, worth a look i think.
http://www.incorporator.com.au/busin...ame_search.asp

Cheers Fred

[Master Splinter]

Realistically, unless you have deep pockets to fund legal action against infringers (and I'd have to say that name infringement is going to be pretty unlikely with a niche product like a sawmill) it's a moot point. If a simple cease and desist letter or six doesn't work, then you'll be briefing barristers and arranging court dates.

With ugg boots (or hoover, or kleenex or biro or asprin or band-aid) - you are thinking about trademark dilution - a trademark at risk of becoming a generic word and the trademark owner loosing the ability to assert their trademark status.

To prevent this (or to at least show that you have been trying to prevent this) you'll basically need a PR firm and a pack of trained attack lawyers to stomp on infringers as well as a strategy to protect your brand name - Velcro is always called "Velcro brand hook and loop fasteners" - the 'hook and loop fasterners" bit being the generic term they want people to use so that they retain the rights to "Velcro" as a brand - so you'd be "clever product name mobile sawmill" or whatever.

[SPIRIT]

why would you wont to just protect the name unless the name is a selling point as in coke or Nike and so on or is it you don't wont copies of the mill coming back at you ?

[echnidna]

That's it Spirit, I was thinking of using a good product name as a selling point.
Copies might happen, that's life, patents etc are relatively easy to circumvent.
And very expensive to enforce if the big money gets into it.

Then again it might be a great big flop and not sell, that aspect doesn't really matter as I will still have mine to use. At least I will try.

Bummer, One name I had in mind is being used in USA..... carry on with Plan B

[rotten_66]

As how JK Rowling's lawyers tried to sue/harass/shut down the Harry Potter clothing store chain, only to have them go her as they had the name registered in Oz for many many years before her books came along.

Pretty sure that both are still in operation.