- This one I really. (chuckles softly)
No, sorry.
This one I really liked.
I don't know why this tickled me so much.
Are patents and utility models the same?
Why or why not?
Cite each example.
I just love how this is like a,
I feel like I'm looking at a law school exam.
(gentle music)
Hi, I'm business and branding attorney Aiden Durham
with 180 Law Co in Colorado.
Welcome back to All Up in Yo' Business.
We're gonna answer your questions and respond
to your comments again today.
First, if you're not already subscribed,
go ahead and hit that subscribe button
and the bell so you receive notifications
anytime I post a new video and so you don't miss out on any
of my hot legal tips and tricks.
Got a lot of questions to go through today
so let's dive right in.
Can I make a contribution anytime for my single member, LLC
or only when I'm forming it?
You can make a contribution at any time as long as it's
in alignment with the LLC's operating agreement.
Most of the time it permits the member to make contributions
at whatever time and amounts that the member decides,
so as long as your operating agreement gives you
that authorization
or that permission, you can make additional contributions
at any time.
Can the trademark still get approved before using it
or will it get denied if you don't have any proof of usage
at the time?
I'm in the middle of designing a website
and the trademark, I wanna make sure it's available
before putting in effort into designing it.
A trademark registration won't be approved,
it won't be registered
until you're actually using the trademark
because a trademark isn't a trademark
until it's a trademark.
It's not a trademark until you are using it.
So no, it won't be approved before you start using it
and it will be denied if you can't provide proof
of that use.
A best option,
if you wanna make sure you're protecting the name
before you start using it is to file
on a 1b intent-to-use basis.
Check out this video
that I recently posted about the best time
to file your trademark application.
And of course, if you're looking for more help
through this whole trademark process,
check out brandish, which is my online DIY course,
where I show you the exact process that I use
with my clients and we go
through a lot of detail regarding the filing basis,
intent-to-use versus current use,
how to show proof of your use,
that date of first use and everything else
that goes into it.
I saw a nonprofit with the business name I want to use
but two different states.
Can I still use the name for my business
even though the nonprofit is using it?
Can I trademark the name in my state
even though the nonprofit is using the name
in another state?
For both of those, it depends.
You can use a business name that somebody else is using,
there's nothing that prevents you from doing that
unless a court or a judge orders you or you agree not to
in a contract.
Of course, there's risk that this nonprofit may think
it's trademark infringement or something like that
but you can always still do it and registering the trademark
in your state if the nonprofit's using it
in a different state,
if their trademark isn't registered in your state then
it would be available for you to register in your state
but that doesn't necessarily mean that you have a whole lot
of rights if they were already using it.
It depends.
Short answer is yeah, sure, you can but the consequences
or the results of it may not be great necessarily.
How can NDAs affect you when working for two companies
at the same time and how would the employer find out if
that's the case.
An NDA really only affects you in the sense
that you typically, it depends on the exact terms
of the NDA but
typically you can't disclose any confidential information
that you receive one, from your employer or the company
that you're working with.
You can't disclose it or use it
for any reason besides performing your obligations
for your first employer.
So it would affect you
by meaning you can't use any confidential information
from one company.
You can't tell the other company about it and you can't use
that info in performing your job for the other company.
How would they find out about it?
Great question.
Maybe they wouldn't, maybe they would get wind of it
from another employee or sometimes they just find out
that you're working for a competing company
and they have a suspicion
that you're probably gonna disclose trade secrets
or confidential information and so they'll try
to take some action to prevent that from happening,
even if they don't know that it's happening,
but they suspect it might.
So, I mean, there's a lot of ways they can find out
but they might try to enforce it even if they don't know
for sure, just on a suspicion.
So speaking of NDAs, now is a great chance to tell you guys
that I have partnered with my good friend
and fellow trademark and business lawyer, Michelle Murphy
to offer her amazing contract templates
from The CEO Legal Loft and her membership
for The CEO Legal Loft.
In these templates, you can find a template NDA.
If you need an NDA or really any other kind of contracts
for your business, check out The CEO Legal Loft
at this link and as a special bonus,
exclusively for my All Up in your Business folks,
if you sign up for a membership
with The CEO Legal Loft, you will also get a promo code
for 50% off of brandish, my online DIY trademark course.
So check that out using the links in the description
if you want 50% off of brandish.
So talking about business deductions here.
Does that mean if I created my LLC
in December I can't deduct expenses I incurred
in the previous months and I've been working
and buying supplies all year.
Nope, you can deduct expenses that you incurred prior
to when your LLC or your business entity was actually formed
Most startup expenses are deductible.
There's rules and limits to what exactly can be deducted,
but no, those expenses that you've incurred prior
to starting the LLC can still be deductible
like any other business expense can.
This was very helpful, thanks.
Will the name on my EIN automatically change
once I change the name of my LLC?
No, changing the name
of your LLC doesn't automatically change the name
of your EIN.
You do need to let the IRS know about that.
You can do it either by writing them a letter
or you can check the box to indicate a name change
on your next tax filings.
Thank you so much for answering my questions.
When it comes to trademarks, would you need
to trademark the actual LLC or can you trademark one
of the DBA's?
So this goes back to something that I cover pretty heavily
in the very beginning of brandish,
my online trademark course,
it depends on what the trademark is.
What is the trademark that we're dealing with?
Are you using the DBA as the trademark?
Is that what the public is encountering
when they are encountering your products or your services
or are you using the LLC name as the trademark?
It's not which one should I focus on,
it's which one is the trademark that we're dealing with?
So you would wanna register whichever one
or whichever ones you are using as a trademark.
My LLC was in one state then I closed and restarted it
in another state within 60 days with the same business name.
Is there a way to keep the history of that business
so my business doesn't look like a new business?
Just wanna cut down on yearly fees
but didn't think about the history.
If you close down an LLC in one state and form a new one
in another state, it is for all intents
and purposes a brand new business.
The best way to move your business
to another state whilst keeping that continuity
and the history of the business is to do a conversion
if it's authorized by both states.
If that's not an option
then sometimes you can accomplish this by a merger
or an acquisition of the two entities and keep that history
of the first one still alive but no, starting a new one
and closing down the old one, you're starting brand new
with a completely new different business.
Hello, Ms. Aiden.
If you are filing on a 1b intent-to-use trademark,
do you put a future date in your application
to when you will start using your trademark
or do you attach a specimen or do you do a 1a?
No, when you're filing on a 1b basis,
there isn't a spot for date of first use.
That question on the application, doesn't show up
if you select the 1b filing basis.
If you put a future date, if you filed on a 1a basis,
if you're not already using the trademark in commerce
and you put a future date, the USPTO won't accept that,
they'll give you an office action,
you'll probably have to amend the filing basis to 1b
and pay a couple extra filing fees potentially
and also it's really, really important that
that date of first use be accurate and correct
as to when you actually started using the trademark
in commerce.
Check out this video to find out why that is so important
but no, the answer is no,
on a 1b basis you don't put the date of first use.
You provide that later when you submit the statement
of first use, so the statement of use.
If I apply for a trademark for a company name
and see that someone else is using it
but in a completely different type of industry,
will my application maybe have a chance of getting approved?
Yeah, it maybe will have a chance of getting approved.
If the industries are completely unrelated then
that certainly increases your chances of getting it,
the trademark registered but it also really depends
on the mark itself.
Let's say you are a,
your name is McDonald and you wanted
to start something kind of related to food
or maybe not even just distantly related to food,
the people behind the McDonald's
will probably not like that.
Same if your name's Disney.
Disney does a lot of stuff but let's say you wanted
to start Disney, I don't know, consulting.
I don't know if Disney already does consulting
but the fame and the strength of the existing mark,
my point is that it also plays into it.
Thanks for this video.
I'm a little confused with first use.
What if you haven't used it yet
because you wanna secure the trademark first?
And then I included this person down at the end,
at the bottom who commented, exactly.
Just to share the question.
How does it work
if you haven't started using the trademark first?
This is a perfect opportunity
to file a 1b intent-to-use basis application.
You get that process started
before you started using the trademark in commerce.
Of course, it won't be registered until you've started
but it gets that process going.
So check this video,
if you want to learn more about when is the best time
to file that trademark application
and of course, check out brandish if you're looking
for more info on how to go about filing an application
on a 1b basis.
I have a question, good.
I have decided to open an LLC
and I will be funding with my own money.
Do I need to decide how to get paid back
for this money that I transferred to the new company?
Yes and no.
Typically the money that we put
into an LLC is considered a member contribution
and we're not entitled to a return
of that contribution typically except
in the form of distributions.
So the only way we get that contribution back is
by making a profit in the business
and then taking distributions of the profit.
The other alternative to that is making it as a loan
to the LLC instead, in which case it would be paid back
as a loan rather than paid back
kind of through those distributions.
So if you're gonna treat it as a loan you need
to decide that before you put the money
into the business.
If I'm getting sued
for leaving this apartment abandoned back in 2013,
they decided to sue me during the pandemic.
Well, I mean, they couldn't evict people
during the pandemic so I guess they're going back
to all their old cases and trying to get
that money wherever they can.
Sue me during the pandemic.
Now I'm starting my business.
Can they take the money out of my business bank account
for the garnishment?
Potentially, depends on your state.
Depends on a lot of factors.
This is typically what we refer to as a charge order,
which means the debtor, the creditor,
whoever you owe money to, they have the right to take
from your member distributions, from the LLC,
if they get a judgment against you.
Whether or not they can do that,
again, depends on a lot of stuff
but yeah, potentially they can.
They can't take money out of your business bank account
but they can take money from your distributions
from the bank account.
There is also of course, I guess the option for kind
of reverse veil-piercing or instead
of normal piercing the corporate veil,
you're responsible for the business debts
in reverse veil-piercing, it's the reverse.
The business becomes responsible for your personal debts.
That could be a possibility as well,
again, it all depends on a ton of different factors though.
Why does the U.S. government make things so complicated
and in such ways which large businesses
with top accountants can do so well and the rest of us
either have to pay up or suffer.
Taxes should be fair and simple for all.
I completely agree with you.
I think it's kind of ridiculous
that the government makes us do the math for them
to tell them how much we owe them and then if we get
that wrong, we get penalized.
Frankly, I think this might be one
of those conspiracy theory things.
I didn't realize that I was a conspiracy theorist
until just now but it's all,
it's all big tax lobbying the government
to continue making taxes difficult so that we have
to pay tax professionals to do it for us
but that's just my two cents.
But anyway, yeah, I agree, taxes should be fair
and simple for all.
I got an LLC for lawsuit protection.
Is it safer to get an EIN
than use your social security number for a business account?
BofA allows the social security number
but recommends getting an EIN.
Do you have an opinion?
I do have an opinion.
I think it's better to get an EIN.
The idea with the LLC, especially if you're doing this
for lawsuit protection, the idea is separateness
and every little thing we can do
to keep the business separate from you will help
and that includes getting an EIN
rather than using your social security number.
So even if it's not required, my opinion is that
it's still a good idea.
This one I really. (chuckles softly)
No, sorry.
This one I really liked. (chuckles softly)
I don't know why this tickled me so much.
Are patents and utility models the same?
Why or why not?
Cite each example.
I just love how this is like,
I feel like I'm looking at a law school exam.
Unfortunately, I don't deal with patents.
I know nothing about patents or utility models,
so I have no idea if they are the same, why or why not
and I'm certainly not gonna cite any examples for either
because I'm not getting tested on this.
Sorry, I can't answer your question.
How are you?
I'm doing well.
How are you?
How long is the trademark valid
once submitting the application?
Well, so the trademark isn't valid until
it's actually registered, which is at least usually a year
from when you've submitted the application
but once the trademark is registered,
it can be valid indefinitely
as long as you continue using the trademark in commerce
and you continue filing any required maintenance
or renewal documents.
If you keep all that up then the trademark can last forever.
Apple was sued by Apple Records, The Beatles, right?
That is true.
So this is on some of my trademark,
one of my trademark videos, but yeah,
Apple Records, which was owned by
or is owned by The Beatles.
That's their like publishing or distributing company
or something.
Beatles had Apple Records
and then Apple Computers started.
There was a lawsuit back in the seventies
that they eventually settled then another issue came up
in the '80s that they eventually settled
and then another one, I think in the 2000's,
like around 2007 or something,
another lawsuit that they eventually settled
and I guess now it looks like everyone's getting along
and playing nicely since,
as far as I know you can get Beatles music on iTunes
so I'm assuming Apple and The Beatles are friends again.
But yeah, the Beatles were concerned
that Apple Computers were infringing on their trademark
and over the last 30 years there's been a handful
of back and forth about that.
By the way, speaking of The Beatles,
have any of you guys watched that Beatles documentary
on Disney channel.
I just finished it.
Pretty interesting if you're a Beatles fan.
If you're not, it's gonna be boring as crap
but pretty interesting if you like The Beatles.
Highly recommend it.
All right, great round of comments
and questions this time you guys.
Keep up the good work.
If you found any of this valuable
or helpful hit that thumbs up like button,
share this video with all of your friends
to spread the good word of All Up in Yo' Business.
Be sure to check some of my old videos
for additional info and check out brandish
if you're looking for more help with DIY
in your trademark application
and you wanna learn the exact process that I use
with my clients and the precise things
that you can do today that will have you ready to hit
that submit button on your trademark application
in only seven days.
Thanks so much for watching I'm Aiden Durham
and I will see you next time.
(lively music)