[ruiarahman]

hi guys. i read some of the posts but i couldnt find the answer I was looking for. I want to start my own t-shirt line. I will be using one of the apparel people to buy the shirts, tanks etc from. im going to wait until the long beach show on jan 23-25 to get alot of vendors. now my question is that I have a name for my brand and it will appear on all my clothing but I also want to do rhinestone iron ons of my brand name. why would i have to trademark this and say if i live in Chicago and I do a corp for my name brand. someone else in any of the united states still can use my name. what do I do to make my name mine. like step by step I need answers. also if i give one of the online companys shirts to do for me, how do i know they will not make more and sell them and make profit on them. i am a graphic designer so im trying to do my own designs but i dont know where to go from there, help me please.

 

[sunnydayz]

As long as you trademark your name thru here Trademarks, this covers the united states, not just your state. So if the name is trademarked nobody in any state could use the same name. Well they could but it would be illegal for them to do so That is when you would send them a cease and desist.

As far as printers stealing your design and selling them, any reputable printer is not interested in stealing your design, they are more interested in being a printer and having a good reputation the way they do that is by being an honorable business and giving great customer care. Granted it does occasionally happen but its usually when someone is trying to get some thing for nothing and end up paying because of it. I would see if you can find someone to make a recommendation for a printer, that way you already know the printer has a fairly good reputation.

Hope this helps some with your questions

 

[ruiarahman]

i appreciate all the info. can anyone refer me to any printers in chicago southside area. or shall i put posts somewhere else?

 

[sunnydayz]

If you go to the referrals and recommedations section and post there for that, you will probably get some pretty good replies. That is the only section where people are allowed to respond offering their services. Just make sure to give good details in your post such as location and what exactly it is you need.