Today is the official Fifth Anniversary of trademark registration for The Family Curator® and a milestone in my genealogy and blogging journey. Although I celebrate July 4, 2007 as the blog birthdate, taking action to formally register The Family Curator service mark felt more momentous than registering the domain name and pushing “Publish” for the first post. As Pinocchio so famously quipped, “I’m a real” blog!
Trademark registration is not a quick and easy process. There’s no short-cut like the old “mail a copy of your thesis to yourself and keep the sealed envelope with the postmark” trick. The United States Patent and Trademark Office requires a formal search, then a filing, then more legal work, until they are sufficiently certain that you have the right to claim that name (or logo imprint). And after registration it’s up to the trademark owner to be vigilant about maintaining and defending the mark, as well as renewing the mark as required by law.
It might not be worth the trouble. But then again, it might.
And it has (most definitely been worth the trouble).
Plus, there’s always that very cool certificate with official gold seal of the U.S. Patent Office.
Congratulations! I recently purchased both your Photo and Heirloom books and am having trouble downloading the files mentioned on page 282 of the photo book. I couldn’t find a way to contact you on your website so hope you will reply to the blog. I don’t want to put the link in the blog. Will you contact me?
Hi Autumn, Thank you for purchasing my books. I’m sorry you’ve had trouble downloading the printable PDF forms; it seems the URL was revised at the publisher’s website. I am contacting you with the new link.
Denise