Did you know that it could take anywhere from seven months to more than two years to get a federal trademark registration? A new Trademark Timeline infographic from Innovation to Profits (shown below) reveals that there are three primary things that can cause delays in the trademark registration process: 1. Office Actions These come from the examining attorney at the U.S. … [Read more...]
Why Your Trademark Registration Might Be Useless – Infographic
Did you know that registering a trademark doesn't always mean you can protect your brand name, product name, logo, or other marks? Believe it or not, you can obtain a trademark registration but in the future, if someone infringes on your trademark rights, you might not actually be able to do anything to stop them. The reason is simple. If your trademark is too descriptive, … [Read more...]
3 Types of Trademark Misuse in Social Media – Beware and Be Informed
The most recent issue of Social Media Monthly magazine includes an article written by intellectual property attorney, Kelley Keller (who is also a Women on Business contributor). The article is filled with great information about trademarks, including a clear description of the three primary categories of trademark misuse that happen in social media. If you run a business … [Read more...]
Entertainment Licencing for Business Events
Your holding an event with a music performance in the U.K. Do you need to get an entertainment license? Here are the basics that you need to know. Under the 2003 Licensing Act, there was a range of live music performances that could take place without a license for event purposes. The Live Music Act of 2012 broadens the range of live music performances that can take place, … [Read more...]
When Is It Time to Hire an Attorney?
Guest Post by Melissa Woodson, community manager for Washington University in St. Louis (learn more about Melissa at the end of this article). The numbers don’t lie: Women in the United States start businesses at a higher rate than men and are expected to create over half of the jobs in small business by 2018, Forbes recently noted. The article “Entrepreneurship is the New … [Read more...]
What It Takes to Be a Woman Fortune 500 General Counsel
What does it take to be general counsel for a Fortune 500 company as a woman? It's not a common position for a woman despite the fact that it's 2012. In a video from Bloomberg, Michele Coleman Mayes, former general counsel for Allstate Insurance Company and co-author of Courageous Counsel: Conversations with Women General Counsel in the Fortune 500, talks about her book and … [Read more...]
The Leper in the Room: Workplace Violence
As a business owner I have noticed that entrepreneurs talk about a range of topics and we share some pretty personal details; what doesn’t happen is the talk about violence. We speak about managing teams and dealing with problem performers, but we very rarely speak about what happens when those situations go horribly wrong. To get to the bottom of this I got some advice from … [Read more...]
Online Businesses Ask… Employee or Independent Contractor?
Guest post by Craig Calvin (learn more about Craig at the end of this post) As the global economy grows weaker, Internet commerce is growing at a faster rate worldwide. Brick and mortar can take a big bite out of your company’s bottom line, but what is even more expensive for any company is its payroll and benefits packages. Employees usually make up about 50% of the cost to … [Read more...]
Managing Time for DCAA Compliance
Post by Veronica Eyenga, contributing Women On Business writer DCAA requires that a contractors’ timekeeping process, collectively including policies, manual procedures and tools be compliant. To be compliant, the software must allow: Employees to charge time to authorized, open projects Employee to access time through a secure password Employee to records viewable … [Read more...]