Have you made it easy for strangers to hijack your brand?
It’s often said that branding is storytelling, and it’s a dead-on statement. You wouldn’t ask a stranger with bad intentions to tell the story of your business. But that may be what you’re doing if you don’t take steps to protect your brand identity. Your trademark – the embodiment of your brand – is the place in the mind of a consumer that links your brand to your business. If the brand is not protected, this connection can be lost or needlessly muddled. High stakes indeed.
In this fast-paced session, we’ll discuss –
- what a trademark is (and isn’t),
- how to start out a business on a solid trademark footing,
- what it means to register a trademark – and how to do it,
- steps to take to be vigilant about infringement,
- ways in which brand value can be corroded from within,
- how domain names fit into the brand equation,
- what brand protection means in a post-pandemic world that’s driven by e-commerce and affected by social media influences,
- five brand protect takeaways to start your Friday.
About the Presenter: Jared Burden, a Harrisonburg-based Partner in the Virginia law firm GreeneHurlocker PLC, is a hands-on transactional business attorney whose practice over several decades has always been focused (whether directly or indirectly) on assuring that business owners maintain the value of their brand. Jared has served as inside and outside general counsel to mature middle-market companies with tens of millions of revenue as well as individual entrepreneurs taking their first steps to actualize their big idea. Jared is a graduate of Duke University and the University of Virginia School of Law, and has lived with his wife Jenny Burden and family in Harrisonburg for 20 years.
Do you reside in the Shenandoah Valley area of Virginia and are thinking about starting a new business?
Do you have questions about how to move forward? Are you considering moving your hobby into a more structured business form? Have you already started your small business and now realize you may have missed a few things?
Your Shenandoah Valley SBDC has answers, information, and resources to help!
In our Start Smart Workshops, we discuss the path to good decisions and a successful start. You’ll learn to take a thorough 360° approach to your business and all its components – from product development to target marketing to financial projections and bookkeeping. We also cover the regulations and registrations you need to know.
Follow-up appointments are then available with SBDC business advisors to focus on your individual business growth needs.
Note that this is a live, on-line Webinar.
Thank you for your registration to Start Smart Workshop via Zoom Time: July 13, 10:00 AM Eastern Time Zoom Link will be sent via email in advance.
Looking forward to seeing you there! Please let me know in advance if you are unable to attend via email to krechjh@jmu.edu. Thank You. Joyce Krech, Shenandoah Valley SBDC Event Information: Start Smart