[sexytees]

Hi all,
I'm a newbie here. I have started an "urban wear" clothing line and want to start out with t-shirts with my logo(name&picture) on them. Kind of like how you would see a Baby Phat or Fubu T-shirt with the name printed on them in different styles and colors. The logo and name have both been trademarked here in indy but not federally. My questions are:
1. I plan to start out with 4 different t-shirts"styles". I am going to have the logo (pic&name) printed in 4 styles differently on each shirt, ie. always same pic but with different colors, different font types for the name and different arrangements on the shirts. Will I have to trademark the other 3 even though these will just be different designs of the main logo?
2. I am wanting to find a supplier that sells t-shirts with NO tags so that I may insert my own tags, any suggestions? Mainly someone with quality BLANK women's T's? AA has never responded nor sent the catalog that I ordered and paid for.
Also do I need a federal ID# to order from these larger suppliers?
3. Is it necessary to have my clothing line name and logo copywritten???



If someone could please help I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thanks Kellie

 

[Comin'OutSwingin]

What’s up?! Welcome to the forums.

First, I wouldn’t worry “too much” about the trademark stuff at this stage. But to answer your question, you can use your name and picture in any style you wish because it is YOUR name and YOUR pic. Each design of it is copyrighted the instant you create it. If you would like to register the copyright, you can do that at the government’s copyright website for about $30 per design.

www.copyright.gov

Second, if you want shirts with no identifying info (manufacturer’s name, logo) that will be hard to find. There are a few out there that will just sell you shirts with care instructions on a label, but I don’t know of any that sell female shirts that way. Take a look at www.royalapparel.net. They will sell you their shirts and sew in your label that you provide them, if you order at least 5 dozen shirts.

I have a pricelist if you need it. Let me know and I will PM it to you!

Welcome, again. Hope I’ve been of some help!

 

[sexytees]

Thank you for the welcome and the info!! Sure I would for you to PM me the pricelist.
Also, I read your website, good luck on your endeavor.
Some of the things you said on there kind of sound my "mission" statement on my site. It's good that you have a meaning behind what your doing so good luck and thanks again.

 

[Comin'OutSwingin]

Thanks for the words!

I forgot about the tax id#!

You will probably need one to order from them, I don't remember. But they are VERY easy to get. You can get one over the phone. I would go to the irs site and fill out the form, first, then call and get the number. They will ask you questions from the form. Choose form SS-4.

Link to the form:
http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/lists/0,,id=97817,00.html

Link to info on applying:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=97860,00.html

You can also get one online, now. I didn't do this and don't know of anyone who has, so I'm not sure how well it works but you can do that from the second link also.

 

[madredebebe]

wow for this post to be six years old it's exactly what I need. I'm starting an urban woman's line and doing a collaboration/joint venture with my husband for a male line and I had questions on trademark and stuff. We have our ein already but do we need to do a trademark for the company at this point. I saw the original poster was asking about copyright for the designs but I'm worrying about brand trademarking. If someone could give me some direction on that I would be very grateful

 

[AAE]

@madredebebe you said it, just what I needed as well...good stuff!

 

[kimura-mma]

We have our ein already but do we need to do a trademark for the company at this point.

You should definitely register your business with your state. But if you have an EIN, you may have done that already.

It is not a legal requirement to register a trademark before launching your business. So it's really up to you to decide.

Technically, you can gain common law rights to your brand name and logo as you use them in commerce. But the benefit of a federal trademark is to have official record of your proof of ownership, especially if you ever have to go to court to sue for infringement.

If you can afford to pay the application fees, it's a good idea to register your trademark. But if you are on a limited budget, then it makes more sense to spend your money on production and marketing. As a startup brand, it's more important to create cash flow by making and selling shirts than worrying about filing and protecting trademarks. You can always trademark later on.


ABrandWithNoName.com

 

[madredebebe]

This is excellent information thank you.

You should definitely register your business with your state. But if you have an EIN, you may have done that already.

It is not a legal requirement to register a trademark before launching your business. So it's really up to you to decide.

Technically, you can gain common law rights to your brand name and logo as you use them in commerce. But the benefit of a federal trademark is to have official record of your proof of ownership, especially if you ever have to go to court to sue for infringement.

If you can afford to pay the application fees, it's a good idea to register your trademark. But if you are on a limited budget, then it makes more sense to spend your money on production and marketing. As a startup brand, it's more important to create cash flow by making and selling shirts than worrying about filing and protecting trademarks. You can always trademark later on.


ABrandWithNoName.com