Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
A pair of local legal minds who worked together in previous lives reconnected to jointly publish the Fourth Edition of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) “What is a Trademark” book.
The ABA tapped Jay Erstling, an emeritus professor of international intellectual property law at Mitchell Hamline School of Law and of counsel at Patterson Thuente, to update the book. He asked Megan Miller, an intellectual property paralegal at Winthrop & Weinstine who is nearing her own graduation from law school, if she’d team up with him.
They joined Upsize to discuss the project and its use for small business owners. The interview has been edited for space.
Tellijohn: So, what’s in the book for business owners?
Jay: It’s a basic trademark primmer. It’s meant to be short and easily read by lay people.
Megan: It goes over some of the very basic things that you need to know as a business owner regarding what a trademark is, what it does and how it can help your business.
Tellijohn: And is there any advice you’d give to small business owners who end up dealing with trademarks?
Megan: I think the biggest one is probably just a little investment upfront really goes a long way. So, do your research before you commit to a brand name. It’s a lot easier to change your name or logo before you get sued for infringement and have invested all of this money and time into a whole brand name.
And then you might have to rebrand and reestablish your customer base. So, just putting a little bit of effort in upfront and getting that search done, preferably with an attorney, because those are the things we can provide in doing those searches that are just more reliable to help prevent future litigation or issues with rebranding.
Jay: Also, the process of registering a trademark can get complicated and having an attorney who knows how to properly draft a trademark application to make sure that you get the broadest protection possible is really important. Especially if your goal is to grow beyond a small locality, having nationwide protection is very important in whatever markets you’re planning to grow. It just helps you expand that much more easily. The nice thing about trademark registration and protection is that it is relatively inexpensive. So, the bang for the buck is really large.
Tellijohn: How can folks get a copy of the book?
Megan: It is available through the ABA’s publishing arm at: bit.ly/3hjLSkG. It’s a really easy way to understand how to use your trademark and is presented in a way that anybody can understand.
Contact: Megan Miller is an intellectual property paralegal with Winthrop & Weinstine:
mm*****@******op.com; www.winthrop.com.
Jay Erstling is a professor emeritus at Mitchell Hamline School of Law and of counsel at Patterson Thuente: ja**********@*************ne.edu; www.mitchellhamline.edu.
The use of fractional executives — those hired by companies on contract to work a fraction of the hours at less cost than full-time hires — has been on the rise for years. That accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. John Arms, co-founder of Voyageur U, helped establish the organization to help educate free agents on what it takes to make it as a fractional executive. He’s now put that knowledge into print, recently releasing the book “Consult Your Way to a Full-Time Job.” Arms joined Upsize Minnesota Editor Andrew Tellijohn to talk about how the book can help potential fractional executives carve their new paths.
Branding expert Kate DiLeo wrote a book about how branding agencies need to do less storytelling and more listening to better meet their clients’ needs.
