How to register a trademark

How to register a trademark

 I drew, prepared exhibitions, and sold paintings, building my career as a painter. Additionally, I have to improve my artistic skills step by step while doing marketing and work simultaneously. And as the paintings accumulate to a certain extent, there are also images derived from these paintings, and based on these images, products beyond the canvas are created. Literally, selling paintings is the moment when it becomes a business.

You may limit painting sales to individuals at first. However, as time passes and the paintings are sold, pictures may sell them from small stores to large corporate units. In other words, if you only think about the route that currently sells paintings temporarily, you will not be able to make a long-term business plan. And when you suddenly need to sell your artworks with a business in mind, you may be disappointed to see yourself so unprepared.

Shortly, artists must have a business mindset, and working with knowledge in these fields is beneficial in several ways, such as protecting one's work and reducing customer confusion in the long run.

And with the development of the Internet, one's works or images are exposed without restrictions for any reason, so it would be good if they were legally protected in case of infringement of copyright and trademark registration in the future.

Since I am also a painter, I understand how exhausting these things are for painters. Since my husband is a college of business professor, I hear and learn a lot about business, brand, and marketing from him every day. And I know how important it is. 

A famous proverb in Korea says that Seodanggae will read a poem in 3 years. It seems like the American proverb. "The sparrow near a school sings the primer." Seodang was an academy that taught Chinese characters to village children a long time ago in Korea. This is where the teacher of the Seodang, teacher, reads Chinese characters aloud to children every day and reads the meaning to them. Seodanggae means a dog that lives in the Seodang. Even a dog can read a poem later if they listen to the Chinese characters while staying here for three years. I often laugh when I tell my husband that I am that seodanggae. But even though I make sense why I register my trademark for the future and When I try to start the process after realizing the importance of patent and trademark registration, I feel my headaches by various regulations and processes.

Still, I'm going to start my brand name, Annakohart.
I want to show you step by step forward here.

Rather than registering copyright for work, I would like to show you my brand, a trademark, in short, a trademark registration for business activities.

A trademark is anything that represents your brand in the marketplace.  The most common trademarks are business and product names, logos, and slogans, but it’s possible to register non-traditional trademarks, as well.  Unique color schemes, sounds, and even smells may have the potential to become a registered trademark.
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The first step in registering a trademark is constantly checking the trademark electronic search system database to ensure that no one else has registered a brand in your category.

 ​In this way, you need to search for the trademark you set in the database. You can use that name only when there are no overlapping names, as shown below. If a "likelihood of confusion" can be established between your name and the registered or pending trademark, your application will be rejected. If you do, you will have to pay the registration fee and start over. We recommend that you search in advance because time and money are all gone. 

​Available free of charge, the database contains extensive data including pending trademarks, abandoned trademarks, registered trademarks, and dead trademarks. 

 ​Below is a table showing the trademark registration process.
​Click to go to the related website.

And personally, I recommend that you visit the blog below. Artists may not understand or be familiar with related terms or legal meanings prior to copyright or trademark registration. The blog below is relatively friendly and well explained in detail.

 

Once you are prepared, the final step is to register your trademark. To complete the process, go to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's site, www.uspto.gov. The process can be lengthy, lasting several months, requiring multiple steps, and application fees can range from $225 to $400.

Consulting a reputable trademark attorney is the best way to ensure that all of these steps are handled correctly before, during, and after the application process. For more information on the basics of trademarks, visit USPTO's website.
(source: 
https://www.artworkarchive.com/blog/art-business-advice-how-to-register-a-trademark)
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 ​Below is a YouTube channel where information about the trademark registration process is well organized.

Life itself seems to be a learning process. I feel that I have to study and study all the time, regardless of age, without any restrictions on my profession. And this process is always fun. I am always grateful to be able to progress step by step and share that process.