Andrei Mincov, Founder and CEO of Trademark Factory started his career in intellectual property because of his father. Even though Andrei had just started law school, he never actually saw himself as a lawyer. But then one day his father (a famous composer) heard his music on the radio. They took a song that Andrei and his father used to sing together in concert and made it into an ad for Samsung without his knowledge or consent. When Andrei’s father called up the radio station to say they couldn’t use his song without his permission or without paying him, they essentially told him to sit down, shut up, and be grateful they were making him more famous.
This was not the right thing to say to Mr. Mincov.
The year was 1996 and Russia had just switched from soviet copyright law to free-market copyright law, and in Russia, you didn’t need to be a licensed attorney to take someone to court. So as a law student, Andrei Mincov took the case all the way to the second highest court in the nation and won.
In doing so, a passion to protect people and the intellectual property that only exists because they created it was born. Andrei Mincov now lives in Vancouver, Canada and is the founder and CEO of Trademark Factory International.
N: Why is Trademarking important?
A: Trademarking is the only way to legally own and protect the brand you are trying to build for your business. Nothing else works. Incorporation doesn’t work. Building an LLC doesn’t work. Getting a domain name doesn’t work. Being in business for 10 years doesn’t work. Those things are useful for your business, but when it comes to you being able to legally stop others from using your brand to compete with you, or even to drive you out of your own brand, the only thing that works is a federally registered trademark. By the time you become big and successful, someone will have trademarked your brand, it may as well be you.
Get more info : The Importance of Trademarks for Entrepreneurs
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