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Trademarking the bands name?

#21
My brother is an Intellectual Property Attorney. We have discussed this topic many times. In most cases, there is no need to trademark a band name. The reason is that if you are nothing more than a local or regional band, it will be almost impossible to determine whether or not there is a band in another part of the country using the same name. Even if you trademark the name and find out that another band is using the name, it will be almost impossible to enforce your trademark without incurring thousands of dollars in legal fees. When considering enforcement of a trademark, a judge has to determine whether or not the audience could be misled into believing one band is performing when in fact a different band is performing. For example, The Rolling Stones are commonly referred to as "The Stones", Bruce Springsteen is commonly referred to as "The Boss". If a band used either of these names, a case could be made that the audience is being misled into thinking The Rolling Stones or Bruce Springsteen is performing and at the very least, a cease and desist order could be issued. It usually makes no sense to trademark a local band name unless you are an original band that is developing a lot of local interest, record label interest, interest from promoters and are sure that you are going to stay together for a long time.
You can file your own trademark at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website. You can also do a search to make sure the name is not currently trademarked.
 
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#22
Its been a while but if I recall correctly, there are two steps to establishing a trademark. The first is to declare your intention that something is your trademark by putting a TM next to it, which doesn't require any paperwork or registration. The R in the circle means its registered with the USPTO, and that offers additional protection if you ever get into a dispute with someone who has something similar. In order to get a registered trademark though, you'll need to prove that you've already established a connection between it and your business.

That said, I'm not sure trademark is that big of a deal for band names. I don't recall seeing a TM or R next to any band names or logos. This sort of thing might be more of a copyright issue, and copyright is granted automatically as soon as you create something. You don't need to register that.

Also, this information is all assuming you're in the U.S. Other countries probably have different rules.
 
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#23
anthrax.jpg
 
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#24
Adding a little to this; If you're ever interested in shopping an album to a label or management, it is not at all uncommon for them to ask you to change your bands name. I've seen and heard of both instances-

Where a label shows interest, but refuses to sign a band until they change their name. Often it's due to marketing and/or offensiveness (more common than people realize)
Where a label is actually drawn to the name for whatever reason, only to find out that the name is in fact taken already (MUCH less common)

Ultimately the ball is in your court, as the only downsides are time and effort, and that someone or something has to be a holder of that trademark, which can also cause legal issues with band members if you aren't a business yet. I've been through this on a serious level 2 different times in bands. Actually, we ran into a band that stole our name AND our music from some other state. We just politely told them it was an honor and sort of humbling that they thought so highly of our band that they wanted to steal it, and that if they didn't drop the music and the name we'd have to take legal action. Less than an hour later all traces of the other band had been removed.
 
#25
So, you're looking for a way to save $50 is filing a trademark, but you think you'll be willing to spend thousands to enforce that mark?! Hell, just having an attorney send a letter is likely to cost $1,000....

Has the band written songs? Are you touring? Made a dime yet? No? Probably best to focus there first.
 
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#26
A working band is a legitimate small business so why not register the band as an LLC ? There are many tax benefits to an Limited Liability Company and doing so will also license the name so that only your band owns the name (at least within your state) and only your band can legally use it. In Florida the LLC website includes a list of registered business names and you can't use one that is already taken and current on their annual registration fees.

Search business names registered in FL Florida Department of State
Search trademarks reg in FL Search Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, Limited Partnerships, and Trademarks by Name
File online for a FL LLC Florida Limited Liability Company - Division of Corporations - Florida Department of State

There should be similar sites in your state. Just be sure to use the official state website and not a third party site. There are many and they are misleading.


Some things to consider is that an LLC is a state entity and not federal. Each state will have it's particular rules for LLC and therefore there are differences between each state. The cost is minimal, I think it's a little over $100 or so in Florida and is tax deductible. You can register an LLC as a co-owned business but that can get sticky if or when the band breaks up or when there's a member change. The more you keep things legal from the start and have some basic things agreed upon, the better chance of band issues being resolved appropriately.

There are pros and cons to doing an LLC. If you do a little research you'll find that you can file for it yourself and the form is short, simple and usually all done online. You can pay someone to do it for you but I doubt it will be any easier. You still have to provide that serve with same info and make the same decisions as you would on the state form.
 
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#27
guy n. cognito said:
So, you're looking for a way to save $50 is filing a trademark, but you think you'll be willing to spend thousands to enforce that mark?! Hell, just having an attorney send a letter is likely to cost $1,000....

Has the band written songs? Are you touring? Made a dime yet? No? Probably best to focus there first.
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Blunt and true
 
#29
Years back I had a band that had a cool name that perfectly described us and our music.
Spent some bux on nice, glossy, full color business cards and worked my tail off
getting more bookings than we probably deserved.
After a couple of years of making steady money at it, it hit me that I had no protection
at all for my enterprize.
Since it was all just local dives and nothing more I felt like I didn't need to do much,
but something was needed.
So I went to the county court house and filled out a DBA form.
Now, I am regestered as Doing Business As BluRok...
even though that band folded and I moved on.
I think it took 10 minutes and 2 dollars to make that happen.
 
#30
Years ago I was in a killer band. Awesome players, but we never got out of the rehearsal room. I hit the street and started selling the band. Once we started to become established we were working 2-4 days a week. Not a big touring band, but a working band.

About a year later the band broke up. The others thought they could replace me and the drummer and move on using the same name I had worked to get established. However, I had registered the band name when I started doing the booking. All I had to do was contact all of the agents I had built a relationship with and tell them I was replacing some of the members and I'll call them when I'm ready to work again.

So, it allowed me to keep my established name and it prevented previous members from forming a new group and using the name I had registered. It can be a bit of a safety net and can give the band/name longevity. This way you don't have to start over whenever personnel changes happen.
 
#31
It's less than $300 (or used to be) at the USPTO website, you can do it yourself. There, you can search for possible conflicts.

But there is always a catch. In this case, two immediately come to mind. First, you have to pay again to renew it after 10 years. Not so tough. Next catch is the tough one. Unless you 'police' you mark, and take every violater to court, you loose your protections. That's pretty hard to do unless you are a big company with people to be constantly on the lookout and have attorneys on retainer.

You can register a copyright of your logo artwork for $25 or so, register as a local DBA at the local level, or become a state LLC, but that is different than trademarking.

Even if you do everything, dot all your i's, cross all your t's, there will always be challenges from former band members and similar sounding or other concerns.

When Led Zeppelin toured Denmark for the first time, they had to use the name "The Nobs" to avoid a lawsuit from the Countess Eva von Zeppelin.
Invalid Link Removed

When Vince Furnier et al coined the name "Alice Cooper", it initially implied the entire band was "Alice Cooper" (read the lyrics of 'Hard Hearted Alice' carefully), not the name of the leader, similar to how the band name "Molly Hatchett" works. The other guys always called Vince, Vince. But after they split in '73 or '74, Vince appropriated the name and then fought off lawsuits to the contrary.
 
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#33
guy n. cognito said:
So, you're looking for a way to save $50 is filing a trademark, but you think you'll be willing to spend thousands to enforce that mark?! Hell, just having an attorney send a letter is likely to cost $1,000....

Has the band written songs? Are you touring? Made a dime yet? No? Probably best to focus there first.
Click to expand...


I would not be asking the question had we not written songs yet. We've written songs, played shows, invested in merch, CD coming out Sept 30th. Secured a Van for regional shows Etc. Played one out of town show last week end. Made a few bucks, put it back into merch.
 
#34
Metalbasspro said:
I would not be asking the question had we not written songs yet. We've written songs, played shows, invested in merch, CD coming out Sept 30th. Secured a Van for regional shows Etc. Played one out of town show last week end. Made a few bucks, put it back into merch.
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Alright. So, after registering your name, how much is the band willing to spend to defend it?
 
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#35
Are we talking a sure thing.....as in your band making super serious cash? Or are you like the rest of us who thought we were close enough to smell it until reality set in.

You had better be the next Justin Bieber in order to generate all of these responses and lousy advide about lawyers and the difference between TM & CR.
In other words, if you have to ask then you're not there yet.
 
#37
allotabass said:
Are we talking a sure thing.....as in your band making super serious cash? Or are you like the rest of us who thought we were close enough to smell it until reality set in.

You had better be the next Justin Bieber in order to generate all of these responses and lousy advide about lawyers and the difference between TM & CR.
In other words, if you have to ask then you're not there yet.
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I was seeking information to make sound decisions. What I am seeing here is projected jealousy of a band that might be going somewhere or condemnation for even thinking it might. I did not come here seeking such Drama, just for the record. All I wanted was the information not the editorialization.
 
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#39
Metalbasspro said:
I came here to see about information. The information posted suggests we need not worry about it. With trade marked name and registered I don't see why there would be a legal battle. Isn't that why you go to the trouble? To avoid it?
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Those who have trademarks only keep them by defending them. Large corporations have staff that do little more than defend trademarks and copyrights all day long.

Can you imagine how few bands check with the trademark office before picking a name?
 
#40
Metalbasspro said:
I was seeking information to make sound decisions. What I am seeing here is projected jealousy of a band that might be going somewhere or condemnation for even thinking it might. I did not come here seeking such Drama, just for the record. All I wanted was the information not the editorialization.
Click to expand...

What you're seeing here is an honest response to an unnecessary step for a local startup band.
 
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