I’ve worked for both large and small companies.  Jaduka, although owned by an established telecommunications company, definitely operates as a small start-up business.  One of the differences in working for a smaller organization is the amount and variety of work that I have to do myself.  This is euphemistically called “wearing a lot of different hats” and all things considered, I prefer it that way. 

Take, for example, the protection of intellectual property.  In a large company, if I were to create a new product or brand, I would turn to a team of lawyers and request that they file for registration of a new trademark.  At Jaduka, I go online to the United States Patent and Trademark Office website (www.uspto.gov) and file myself. 

The experience has taught me two important lessons: a) there are a lot of things that self-serving “specialists” in large organizations would have me believe are difficult which, with a little guidance, I can easily accomplish myself; and b) the Internet enables small companies to behave like big business. 

There's a certain amount of symmetry in this for me because, in much the same way, Jaduka enables small businesses to compete effectively with larger companies by empowering them the voice-enabled Web tools and technology that previously was affordable or accessible to only very large enterprises.

To file for a trademark registration for a new company name, product or brand, the USPTO website is a wealth of information.  The first step is to do a search on competing prior or existing registrations.  This is easily accomplished with the sites Boolean search function.  If the name or phrase is unclaimed, the next step is to file for registration.  Although registration is not required, it’s a good idea to provide a formal public notice of your intent to use and claim ownership of the mark. 

Interestingly, you can use the ‘TM’ or ‘SM’ for a trademark or service mark without filing for registration with the USPTO, but you may not legitimately use the ‘circle R’ without successfully completing the registration process.  Once you’ve properly filed the registration forms online, the USPTO reviews the application to determine whether the applicant meets the requirements for federal registration.  The entire process from filing to registration usually takes from nine months to over a year. 

Here’s an example of the prosecution history from one of the trademarks that I successfully registered:

2006-09-05 - Registered - Principal Register

2006-07-18 - Law Office Registration Review Completed

2006-06-30 - Assigned To LIE

2006-06-27 - Allowed for Registration - Principal Register (SOU accepted)

2006-05-31 - Statement of use processing complete

2006-05-18 - Amendment to Use filed

2006-05-18 - TEAS Statement of Use Received

2006-04-18 - Notice of allowance - mailed

2006-01-24 - Published for opposition

2006-01-04 - Notice of publication

2005-12-14 - Law Office Publication Review Completed

2005-12-14 - Assigned To LIE

2005-12-02 - Assigned To LIE

2005-11-29 - Approved for Pub - Principal Register (Initial exam)

2005-11-29 - EXAMINERS AMENDMENT E-MAILED

2005-11-29 - Examiners Amendment -Written

2005-11-29 - Previous allowance count withdrawn

2005-11-15 - Withdrawn From Pub - Og Review Query

2005-10-13 - Law Office Publication Review Completed

2005-10-07 - Assigned To LIE

2005-09-30 - Approved for Pub - Principal Register (Initial exam)

2005-09-29 - TEAS Change Of Correspondence Received

2005-09-29 - EXAMINERS AMENDMENT E-MAILED

2005-09-29 - Examiners Amendment -Written

2005-09-08 - Teas/Email Correspondence Entered

2005-08-25 - Communication received from applicant

2005-08-25 - TEAS Response to Office Action Received

2005-07-15 - Non-final action e-mailed

2005-07-15 - Non-Final Action Written

2005-07-15 - Assigned To Examiner

2004-12-22 - New Application Entered In Tram