Picture it:
You’ve spent the last year, building a successful blog.
Your visitors know you well. They’ve purchased your products, downloaded your e-books, and signed up for your newsletter.
Overall, you’re kicking ass.
Then, without warning, you discover a much larger company has recently registered and trademarked a strikingly similar company name, stealing your traffic and destroying all your hard work.
Unfortunately, these situations are real and happen everyday.
The good news…
They don’t have to.
Robert Wright is an Intellectual Property Lawyer from CounselintheCloud.com and discusses how you can (and should) protect yourself, website, and company.
You’ll learn:
- What trademarks are and why they’re so important
- The difference between patents and trademarks
- The process and cost of getting a trademark
- How to protect your writing and ethically use someone else’s writing
- Critical pieces of content you should have on your blog
- Why (and when) you should use writer agreements
- The most common legal contracts you should be using (and why)
- Answers to real travel blogger questions
Watch Robert’s Interview Now
Resources & Notes
- Travel Blogger Legal Packages and Pricing Note: Robert also provides trademark registrations for $1,000, plus the filing fees charged by the Patent and Trademark Office ($275 - $325). Payment plans available.
- Robert Wright’s website: CounselintheCloud.com
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): uspto.gov
Interview Questions
- Can you tell us about your background and the services you provide?
- What’s a trademark?
- What’s the difference between a patent and trademark?
- Why should bloggers get trademarks?
- What’s the process (and cost) for getting a trademark?
- When do you recommend someone get a trademark?
- Are trademarks applicable internationally?
- What should bloggers do to protect their website, brand and company?
- Can you explain copyrights?
- How can travel bloggers get their writing copyrighted?
- Is there a way to see if someone has copied your work?
- How can bloggers properly use someone else’s writing without breaking any copyright laws?
- What are your thoughts on writer agreements and submission agreements.
- Many times, travel bloggers see their articles get republished by other sites. That legal?
- What are some the most common legal contracts bloggers should be aware of and be using with their business?
- Marco: Should I get my blog’s name patented/copyrighted. If so, how?
- FB: I like a domain name, but someone else already has it. What’s the verdict on putting a dash between words? E.g. zensauce.com vs. zen-sauce.com. Are there any branding issues?
- Scenario: A travel blogger, with a signed agreement, posted an advert on their website. The company backed out and the blogger removed the ad. What are the travel bloggers legal rights?
- Overall, what advice would you give travel bloggers?
