It depends. The old adage, “If it’s too good to be true it probably is” comes to mind. More often than not, if you see advertisements for trademark services offering rock bottom fees for clearance searches and registration work the person or company offering the service is probably not an attorney or is an attorney who has a non-attorney doing the work, which is not only unethical, it could be perceived as the unauthorized practice of law. Trademark professionals refer to these types of businesses as “trademark mills.”
Clients have contacted me after they’ve hired a trademark mill. For example, some trademark mills offer cheap trademark clearance search services, which consists of the client being sent a giant stack of papers that resembles a phone book with no guidance on whether their trademark was cleared. Clients have come to me overwhelmed because they don’t know where to start. Clients have also come to me after they’ve hired a trademark mill to file their trademark application only to find out that the USPTO refused the application because it was not handled correctly. The trademark mill’s business is volume and the client is just treated like a number. To make matters worse, the trademark mill will not keep the client informed of the trademark mill’s mistake.
Don’t let this happen to you. Be smart and hire a real trademark professional who cares about her clients and has years of experience.
Contact Bernstein IP for a free introductory consultation on how we can try to help you.
