Often small business start-ups spend a considerable amount of time on their business market plan, financial budget, and human resources. Yet, intellectual property such as trademarks are often addressed afterward when it may be too late. Choosing a distinctive trademark for your product or service maximizes its positive consumer perception. It helps to avoid the likelihood of confusion, or even worse, trademark infringement. A distinctive trademark (rather than a more generic one) could potentially distinguish your business from those “me too” copycat competitors. To avoid the likelihood of confusion or even infringement, you should conduct a trademark search at the US Patent & Trademark Office site.

Attend onsite or online to learn about the following topics:

• Trademark Basics
• Distinctiveness and Likelihood of Confusion
• Comprehensive Clearance Searching
• Common Search Steps to Get Started

Georgia Southern University invites you to join us for these workshops from the Patent and Trade Resource Center (PTRC). These complimentary workshops will be delivered under the leadership of Professor John Schlipp, an Intellectual Property Librarian at Georgia Southern University Libraries. He represents the Patent & Trademark Resource Center (PTRC) for the US Patent & Trademark Office at Georgia Southern. John also teaches a new Information Studies credit-bearing course INFO 2350 Workforce Ready: Introduction to Metaliteracy Skills. He has published a textbook entitled Intellectual Property and Information Rights for Librarians (2019, ABC Clio/Bloomsbury) and is an editorial board member for the Journal of the Patent & Trademark Resource Center Association.  

Both workshops are intended to benefit inventors, entrepreneurs, educators, students and legal professionals. The Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC) at Georgia Southern can assist you to conduct your own free patent and trademark searches on specialized USPTO databases. Additionally, you can receive one-on-one instruction on the application process, improve awareness of a product field, determine application feasibility and prepare for consulting with an attorney.