Should you trademark your brand? This week on the Grow Your Video Business Podcast, Ryan interviews award-winning documentary filmmaker, turned intellectual property attorney Trevor Ward. He's answering all the questions you've ever had about trademarks, and some you probably didn't even know to ask. Trevor shares his journey from filmmaking to law and if there's still a documentary filmmaker in his soul. If you are a small, medium, or large filmmaking company you should grab your pen and paper and listen to today's episode because we are diving deep into the trademark world. We're talking about whether or not you should trademark your brand, the step-by-step process, how much it costs, and the risks that your brand is facing when you don't trademark it.

About Trevor Ward

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Trevor was an award winning documentary filmmaker and operated a small video production company for about 12 years (Red Eye Film Co.). He left the business because the last three feature docs that he attempted died in the water. On one, he spent about 1000 hours, his and other peoples' money, and 2 years trying to make happen.

After that experience, he did some soul searching and decided it was time for something new. He went to law school and now practice intellectual property law.

Disclaimer

Anything said in this podcast episode should not be construed as legal advice. This is purely for entertainment or educational purposes only. If you have specific legal questions, please consult an attorney in your state.

Key Takeaways

The importance of a trademark is to avoid consumer confusion.

Registering your trademark gives you stronger legal protection.

If you are not familiar with trademarks, you should hire an attorney to assist you.

In this Episode

Meet Trevor [02:30]

A quick disclaimer [03:27]

How he switched from filmmaker to a whole different business [04:10]

Is there still a documentarist in the back of Trevor's head? [06:32]

What's intellectual property and why you should care about it [07:46]

What does intellectual property means to a small corporate filmmaker? [09:55]

Should you trademark your brand? [12:47]

How to trademark your business [19:42]

A trademark funny story [23:41]

Can you still sell domains for a ton of money? [24:40]

Can you be sued by a big company? [27:20]

How much does it cost to trademark your brand? [28:25]

Is it really worth spending on a trademark? [29:29]

Trevor shares a "horror story" [30:10]

Can Legal Zoom help you? [31:33]

Why hiring an attorney is better than doing it yourself [32:16]

What to do before you trademark your brand? [37:20]

How to stop someone from using your trademark? [38:20]

Trademark and tv shows [41:10]

How to get in touch with Trevor [42:47]

Links

Join the Grow Your Video Business Facebook Group

Get the ASCEND Method Cheat Sheet

Find Trevor Ward online

Connect with Trevor Ward on LinkedIn

Follow Ryan Koral on Instagram

Follow Grow Your Video Business on Instagram

What's your question for the podcast? Share a video or audio response!

Additional Links:

Check out the full show notes page

Do you have something to share on this podcast? Fill out this form here.

If you haven't already, we'd love it if you would take 1 minute to leave us a review on iTunes!

Science Podcast - Replacing the Y chromosome, the future of U.S. missile defense, the brightest gamma-ray burst, and more (22 Nov 2013)