VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

chriswagner · Contributor IV Joined: 02 Apr 2007 Posts: 114

Just a follow up.. Smile

Life can get really exciting.

I had called into the trademark office to see what the status of my application was, and asked some questions. It seems that my application isn't for a trademark, but a service mark.

Well, I asked what the difference was.

A trademark is used for products. Such as T-shirts, hats or other items.

A service mark is used for services, now there are a myriad oftypes of services and you need to apply for the mark within that specific service you are providing. Such as voice over. If someone were to apply for a service mark using a similar logo but for a different service, such as selling music, that would be granted as well. If you wanted to cover more than one service with your logo and service mark, you have to submit an application for each type of usage.

And Harlan Hogan did contact me and let me know that he had used the logo in his products since 2000. Of course this is a different application completely. And honestly not one I really was looking to use the logo for in the first place. (Yes, I did mention somewhere previously that if I was possibly wanting to merchandize my logo.. Seems that Harlan had beat me to that punch... and to be honest I did too much of that in my early 20's, selling clothes.)

So, we'll see how this goes.. it's actually quite interesting, I have learned quite a bit about this whole TM, SM and (R) world!

Chris

CarynClark · Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 3:10 pm Post subject:

Good to know! And thanks for the info as well. I'll look into it.
_________________
Caryn Clark... The Hip Chick Voice!

"A positive mental attitude and having faith in your ability is quite different from being irresponsible and downright stupid." - Dave

Frank F · Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 3:37 pm Post subject:

One thought regarding the legal use of the logo Chris...

"If the logo/trademark or service mark is in any way similar to another logo/trademark or service mark, the holder of the first registered logo/trademark will prevail".

Since both you and Harlan Hogan are VO's and both of you use the logo/trademark/service mark for the marketing of VO talent/work/products - you would lose in litigation. This is true even if you do not intend to have any direct connection.

You are talking about comparing 'apples to apples' not 'apples to oranges' here. Splitting hairs is not a good thing when it comes to copyright infringement, trademark/service mark violations, or plagiarism.

F2
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Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

chriswagner · Contributor IV Joined: 02 Apr 2007 Posts: 114

Frank,

Long time man, how's life?

Well, Harlan and I have had an ongoing discussion and we have come to a settlement. He has no problem with me aquiring the service mark, and I am not going to move in on his t-shirt, cap, or whatever business.

And it legally is apples and oranges, I thought it wasn't.. but you know there is a reason that lawyers charge all that money and why it is such an amazingly complex legal system we have.

And where did that Plagiarism word come from? Are you telling me I am a plagiarist? And what about Copyright? This has nothing to with copyright.
I doubt that Harlan was the FIRST one to use that logo, he might have been, but you can see ALL over the web that it is being used to sell music, or theme songs from tv shows and so on.

And thank you for the legal line I will keep that in mind!

And as far as trademark/servicemark violations, I am operating under the information given to me directly from the helpful and happy folk who are trademarking/servicemarking specialists at the trademark office.

Sheesh, Frank, you can be so grumpy sounding some times!

All that said, Harlan and I are on good terms about this. Smile

I am going to also put a link from my site to his merchandizing site as a statement of good faith.

So.. there you have it!

The key to any legal branding is lots of research (I did some, not as much as I should have), file your paperwork, and then.. well haven't gotten that far yet. But it's a great learning experience!

Chris

louzucaro · Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 6:43 am Post subject:

I guess the question I would pose is "Why would you knowingly begin a marketing effort with a logo that has been done and done and done and done rather than doing something that's unique to you?"
_________________
Lou Zucaro
http://www.voicehero.com

"Well, yeah, there's my favorite leaf!"

Diane Maggipinto · Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 7:33 am Post subject:

that is precisely what i'm thinking, lou. the logo idea is not an idea at all, is used already, and could be confusing. imo, boring, too.

while i'm at it, and i do mean this in the nicest way, chris: i think the slogan

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 9:26 am Post subject:

To piggyback on Diane, do you really need a slogan? Let's be honest, slogans are usually cheesy and tell me nothing about why I should hire you.

Let your demos be your slogan.

chriswagner · Contributor IV Joined: 02 Apr 2007 Posts: 114

It might be boring, and yes, it's been done before..

But I didn't want to do the version of a microphone either.. that's been done WAAYY too much and is boring.

Jeff... that's the last part! yes..

Yoda117 · Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 12:46 pm Post subject:

chriswagner · Contributor IV Joined: 02 Apr 2007 Posts: 114

Here I am going to JACK my own thread..

Last night both of my USB 500MB hard drives DIED... yes, the primary one I used to do work and the BACKUP one as well.

UGH.

Backup is a good thing, but when the hard drive world goes to Hades in a Handbasket, well that's something completely different. This is completely different.

They are so bad that it looks like Spinrite won't even do a good job of recovering anything.

here's the thing, the drives in your machine will most likely tell you if they are getting ready to fail. Isn't the case with a drive that is connected to a USB port. When I took these out and connected them directly to the motherboard BIOS immediately came up and said the drives were almost ready to fail, please back up the data immediately.

At that point, well, I couldn't GET to the drive, even when it was connected directly in the machine.

Be careful, I thought I was, but I got a nice little surprise didn't I?

Chris

todd ellis · Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 2:05 pm Post subject:

chris --- maybe if you put a hat on it ...
_________________
"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

Frank F · Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 2:13 pm Post subject:

I am not a lawyer. Thank heavens. I just put the basic information out in the ether for those who may be curious.

Chris, regarding the terms used - these are all issues which we ALL need to be wary of in our endeavors when determining our identity in the professional world. You did the intelligent thing by contacting Harlan - for that I salute you.

Some of the information given throughout this thread has been mis-leading or ill-informed. This mis-guided information should be corrected and addressed.

As stated in previous posts, when researching and implementing a trademark, copyright, logo, service mark, etc., contact an attorney - by doing so one might spend a few dollars, but save a lot more in the long run.

I tend not be as "grumpy" as it seems, just cautious.

I hate to lose.

Toodles

F2
_________________
Be thankful for the bad things in life. They opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before. email: thevoice@usa.com

chriswagner · Contributor IV Joined: 02 Apr 2007 Posts: 114

Frank,

I said you SOUND grumpy.. Smile

I know you aren't that grumpy most of the time.

And I don't like to lose either.

But it's been a fun ride none-the-less

Chris

samowry · Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 4:49 pm Post subject:

I noticed on the url that the name could also be read as:
Ash Ear Don TV
Good thing your name isn't Don. I don't know what ash ear is, but I don't want it.
;+)

chriswagner · Contributor IV Joined: 02 Apr 2007 Posts: 114

Oh.. that's really pretty funny.. Smile

I know what Ash Ear is.. it's when you have to much to drink at the pub, pass out on the bar and later wake up to find your pillow was an ash tray..

Ash Ear..