Trademark your brands and business name

If you value your business and product names you should take steps to guard them through trademarking them.

Just ask Ian McDonald formerly of McDonald's hamburgers at Rosebud Victoria. Mr McDonald has had to cease trading under his own name and change the name of his hamburger shop to avoid an expensive legal battle with the global hamburger giant McDonald's.

It's not that Mr McDonald couldn't have won his case, it's just that it was going to be expensive to fight.

"I decided not to go to court because the prospect of massive legal fees was too daunting," Mr Macdonald said.

On the other hand Malcolm McBratney decided to fight McDonalds on principle. He was using the label McBrat's on his local rugby teams' shorts as part of a sponsorship arrangement.

McDonald's had registerred the trademark McKids a few years ago in preparation for a McDonald's kids clothing line, and according to them the McBrat's logo was too similar and could cause confusion in the market.

The Federal Court ruled this week that McBratney could register and have his nickname appear as a registered trademark on his team’s shorts.

I have provided these two topical examples as an illustration of the complexity of the issues. Basically if you are in business you need to take active steps to manage your business, brand and product names. You can help manage the risks to your business name and brands by registering the appropriate trademarks.

In the current environment of competition for brands and intellectual property you shouldn’t hesitate to take this step. The costs of re-branding can be very expensive, not to mention customers losing you with the change of name.

You can read more about registering trademarks yourself at IP Australia or if you want to get professional assistance you can contact us at Erina Legal to discuss your needs on 02 4365 6556.

How to find the right lawyer for you

When choosing a lawyer you need to consider what is most important to you. Most people don't buy services from lawyers every week and so are a little unsure about what is most important. This guide describes the three most important attributes you should look for.


Expertise - Choose a lawyer who has expertise in the area you need.
Working together - Choose a lawyer you can best work with.
Quality of Service - Find a lawyer who can deliver a good service.

Expertise
There are many areas of law and there are continuing changes in legislation, case law and procedures in each area of law. No one lawyer can keep up with all of the changes to all areas of law. It is important that you choose a lawyer who has relevant updated qualifications and experience in the area of law that you need.

Lawyers advertise what their specialities are in the yellow pages and other advertisements. You can also call the firm before your first meeting and ask about relevant experience for your particular need if you are unsure from their advertisements.

Sometimes the lawyer may not be an expert in the particular area of law you need, but may have enough experience together with briefing a barrister with expertise in that area to provide the service you need. Ask about this.

All Australian lawyers have at least a university degree of three to six years and a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice as well as a certificate of admission to the relevant Courts before they are allowed to practice as a lawyer. They are then required to have two years of supervised work experience before being given an unrestricted practice certificate and must complete at least ten hours of continuing legal education each year to maintain their practice certificate.

Many lawyers do further post graduate studies such as Specialist Accreditation with the Law Society, Post Graduate Diplomas, Master of Laws and Doctorate of Laws at university and some also in other disciplines related to their law specialisation. When phoning to arrange an interview feel free to ask what areas they have training and experience in.

Working together
Your lawyer will be working with you intimately, and possibly over a sustained period of time. Like relationships with people in general, there are some people you can get on well with and others that you can't. When you meet your lawyer for the first time the first interview is for both of you to decide if you can work together.

Can you sit comfortably with this person and tell them about your aspirations and how you see your future? Do you trust them to work for your best interests, and to work hard? Will the work be between just the two of you or will there be others involved? If other lawyers will be supporting the work you might like to also meet them.

You should discuss how you will communicate. Will this be mostly by email, phone or face to face meetings. Do you understand each other when you speak or do you constantly need to clarify meanings?

You and your lawyer will be working together as a team and as a team you need to be able to effectively communicate and work together. You need to be comfortable working as part of that team. Your lawyer has the expertise and experience to help you achieve your goals. You have the relevant information about your particular circumstances that will assist your lawyer to do so.

Quality of service
As the customer you also have an expectation of a certain level of service. How quickly will your calls be returned, how long will you have to wait for an appointment, will you be kept appraised of updates in your case? Again, this is a topic for your first meeting.

Of course the team at Erina Legal are confident we can deliver high quality and reliable results in all the areas of law we provide. You are welcome to call us (02 4365 6556) and book your first appointment today. An initial consultation only costs $180 for up to one hour. After that if you want us to commence working for you, we will provide you with a Costs Agreement and some estimates of costs and what may need to happen.

Our main areas of expertise include;

• Family Law
• Financial Agreements
• Conveyancing and Property Law
• Wills, Power of Attorney, Enduring Guardianship, Probate
• Small Business Law
• Mediation
• Employment Law
• Civil Litigation

For more information about our service phone 02 4365 6556 to discuss your needs.