I put a production company name at the beginning of my recently completed short ("So and so productions presents"), and of course no such company (that I know of) exists. Is there a way to make this name official? Or do I just need to take it out?

Josh,

You can name your production company anything you want as long as there isn't another company with the same name. You can perform a search to see if another company has the same name at http://www.uspto.gov.

In a nutshell, if your trademark isn't registered, you can put the ™ mark which indicates an unregistered trademark.

If you do register it, then you can use the ® mark.

According to the US Patent and Trademark site, the benefits for registering are:

1. Constructive notice nationwide of the trademark owner's claim.
2. Evidence of ownership of the trademark.
3. Jurisdiction of federal courts may be invoked.
4. Registration can be used as a basis for obtaining registration in foreign countries.
5. Registration may be filed with U.S. Customs Service to prevent importation of infringing foreign goods.

It's interesting to see which companies have NOT registered their trademarks. For instance, watch the "Dreamworks" logo before a film starts. It shows the ™ mark rather than ®.

If you want to register it, go to http://www.uspto.gov for details. The filing fee is "$325.00 per class of goods and/or services." That can add up quickly considering the different classes of goods they specify.

You also should be aware of the "fictional name" registration requirements that are the law in all states and are independent of the Federal trademark laws.

If you plan to do business under any name other than your own, you have to register the name with the secretary of state (or similar official) of your state. Most state governments have Web sites that will explain the process -- which involves filling out a form and paying a fee and then publishing a notice in certain newspapers. If you are going to sell your work under the production company name you have to do this.

This name registration requirement is intended to make business fraud more difficult (or, at least obvious) by creating a public record of who is doing business under what name(s).

Josh,
To register a fictitous name here in Houston, go to the county clerks office. Last time I did it, it was 10 or 20 dollars. First do a search of the files there to see if it's registered.

This is the document you will need to go open an account at the bank under the company name.

As always, procedures are different in other localities...

Josh,

Bill's right...it is cheap and easy to do in Texas. I did it once before in Austin with my old photography business. Tell the person who helps you at the County Clerks office that you need a "DBA" form (Doing Business As).

Also, it's a good idea to take the DBA once it's processed to your bank and set up a separate bank account with the DBA name. The account will be something like "Josh Bass dba Bass Productions." Then, keep all your private and business-related purchases, expenses, etc. separate. It'll save you a lot of headaches when it comes time to pay the taxman.

And on that note...you might want to look at a program called M.Y.O.B. (Mind Your Own Business) and start using it to track expenses, equipment and supplies purchases, business-related income, etc.

Do that and...guess what...you're a business.

This 10-20 dollar dealy is good nationwide? Hell, worldwide?

Josh,

That fee is just to allow you to "do business as"...meaning it legally binds "you" to the "company." If you set up another production company...or branch... in another state or company (or maybe even different county, I guess), you'd have to do the same thing again. But still...that means you can use that company name to do business anywhere...since you're "based" out of your current location where you've filed a DBA.

But it does NOT have anything to do with registering the company name itself. That's a whole different procedure...what I mentioned earlier associated with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

I'm not sure about international guidelines as far as registering a company name goes...but I can't imagine a production company in...say...New Zealand or Japan or wherever...caring whether a company in the U.S. has the same name. A lot of Americans tend to think the American way is the way of the world...and that just isn't the case. What's legal there might not mean squat here.

I don't know what's to stop a company in New Zealand from calling themselves "DreamWorks." Maybe someone here can shed some light on that. Also, I'd be interested in knowing whether you need to file a different DBA for different counties.

I was just going to go ahead and put the "TM" after the name in the credits. I could pay 10-20 bucks though. $325? Not so sure. I don't think I care that much.

Josh,

John is correct in all he says. I would like to add that a dba here in Houston, only covers Harris county. It is not really designed to "Protect" your right to the name. The system is just set up so that people can't have the same business names in the same county.


I had a touring theatrical company, and needed to set up bank accounts in states across the U.S. I usually just showed them my Texas DBA, and they were good to go with that.

It is also only good for ten years, after which you have to renew it. When you register, you will choose to become a "sole proprietor" or a "Partnership". But here is where we strey into setting up your business, and you should REALLY consult an attorney.

For the record, I own several businesses, and have never registered the trademark names. I have however, filed dba's and did searches in local databases, (Online, phone books, county clerks tax records) to make sure no one else was using a similar name.

I don't know if what I'm doing qualifies as a "business" since I don't plan on making money (maybe ever!) for a while.

Okay folks. Searched the US trademark and patent office for the name I used, found no matches. Since I'm doing business, I'm going to go ahead and keep the name, adding the little "TM" as was advised. Hopefully before someone sues me they'll be kind enough to ask me to stop using the name first.

Well? The suspense is killing us! What name have you chosen?!

Josh,


Yeah, if someone else already uses it, you can expect a "nastygram" first. That's standard operating procedure.

Oh. . .nothing fancy. It was "Non-Practicing Productions." It reflects my status as a man born Jewish who ceased doing everything but gift giving at Hannukkah (which I've probably spelled wrong, and I don't mean the C, cause that's optional).

Josh,
Pretty funny... I wouldn't sweat the name much.

Good one, Josh. I'll be looking for "A film by Non-Practicing Productions" from here on out (especially with your soon-to-be-released film that Paul is working on for you).

At the moment (December 2002), there is a leak in the US PTO and if you register your name with them--or even so much as run a search to determine whether the name has been taken yet--without first claiming the domain name, yourcompanyname.com will be reserved within a half hour of your US PTO registration.

If the domain name is available, always grab it as soon as you can. Also, you shouldn't pay $35/year for your domain name through an overpriced registrar like Register.com. $14/year domain registrations are available through The Geek Empire (http://www.thegeekempire.net).

Robert,

Interesting story. There are over a million searches a day. Someone would have to pay a pretty penny to register them all and to what end? The cybersquatting laws would hit them pretty hard.

Let's also not confuse a trademark with a domain name. Not the same thing.

Applying for a trademark is a matter of public record. There is no "leak" involved. There is a considerable expense at researching them however. (The online search is not very specific or complete.)

But this thread may be veering off into another direction.

This is interesting.
My question is...what about liability? I hear a lot of people warning me about incorporating to protect my personal assets. I had a small DBA before. Now I'm starting to get A LOT of extra freelance work on the side. Whats the best way to incorporate?
Sole Proprietership?
LLC?
What the heck are they anyway?

Any info greatly appreciated.

Jeff Patnaude

Think of it this way:

For example, two companies are shooting a wedding:
Jeff Productions, and Jeff Productions Ltd.
Jeff is shooting the video, but he knocks his tripod over, into a row of candles, setting the church on fire, killing the bride and groom.
Jeff Productions gets sued for $10,000,000 and loses. Jeff has to sell everything-house, car, kids, wife, dog, and declare bankrupcy, and is pretty much done for life.
Jeff Productions Ltd, gets sued for $10,000,000 and loses. The company loses it's assets (some camera equipment, a few lights) and folds. Jeff, the employee who caused the fire, goes home to his house, kicks back on his couch with a beer, watches some baseball, and decides what to call his new production company.

At least, that's how I understand it.

Dylan, in corporations the principals can get sued for their personal assets.

A LTD. company has more protections for the principals.

You can protect yourself by getting business insurance. But you are still out lawyer fees in the Church example.

Edited my previous post to correct that error.

I registered my company as Shoutng Cow Productions, LLC.

I have produced one short film under this company name. My other productions has been established under a new LLC name which is usually the title of the film and then the LLC suffix.

In terms of liability if you have one company and produce 10 films under this company. This one company would then be liable for the 10 films. If you establish 10 different companies for the pupurse of producing 10 films, the total liability will then be spread out.

An other good piece of advise is to make sure that you also get the web domain name. If you register an LLC or an Inc, designs logos, make letter head paper, business cards etc. and then don't have the web domain you have lost out greatly since your website will be your voice to the world!

Reading back over this thread, I wanted to get clarification on a couple of points.

It is my understanding that a 'trademark' protects your 'logo' meaing it is the mark(logo) that you uniquely indentify with your trade(business).

Example: Coke isn't a trademark. Coca-Cola, written in the manner they use on the bottles and cartons IS a trademark.

Trademarks, don't protect 'business names'.

It's also my understanding that (here in Texas anyway) when I file a DBA form for a sole proprietorship, my company name is only required to be unique in my county. But, if I wish to incorporate, then my name has to be unique on a national level. I am not sure about LLC naming requirements.

Any comments or corrections are greatly appreciated since I am about to take the big plunge.

regards,

-gb-