Incorporating Your Business Does Not Protect Your Company Name?

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Contrary to popular belief, incorporating your business does not protect your company or product name. I had to break this news to a client of mine recently, he had incorporated in Florida. And he was shocked to discover that the state of Florida had allowed another company to incorporate with a name that was almost identical to his company's name. Unfortunately, he hadn't bothered to trademark his company name. And this allowed a competitor to use a confusingly similar name, a slight variation of the brand that he had worked so hard to protect. When you're starting a business, trademark protection is probably one of the last things you want to think about. And I can understand that most entrepreneurs are not aware of just how valuable the intellectual property and their brand and product names can be. If you're just starting out, you may think you have very little brand equity. But as your business grows, so does your brand's value, that McDonald's brand is valued by Business Week at $29 billion. eBay is worth 7 billion, and Google is worth 20 billion. Now, that's not the value of the businesses, things such as equipment, buildings inventory, that's just the value of the brand by itself. And if these companies don't take the necessary legal steps to protect their corporate assets, they could lose them to a competitor. The same applies to you. Are you protecting the name of your company or its products? If not, call me and I'll walk you through the process. Your partner innovating. Genre is the.