This blog was originally written as a guest post for Indiana on Tap in November 2015. 

In my last blog post, I touched briefly on how breweries should go about enforcing their trademarks and protecting their brand. This blog post is going to jump in and discuss some different anecdotal tales on how breweries have enforced their trademarks and avenues that are available to do so.

Earlier this month, I was given the opportunity to speak with an entrepreneurship class at Purdue University, regularly taught by Tim Peoples – who is also the Director of Entrepreneur Services and Programming for the Purdue Foundry. My goal going into this class was to give the students a basic understanding of the options and processes that go into forming a company.

Filing your trademark registration application is a simple concept. But the process you must follow and the rules governing that process are complex. Many wonder whether they would be able to successfully register a mark on their own, or if they should go with a legal technology website or law firm. Here are the three options you have along with their respective pros and cons:

If you own real estate, it’s likely you recently received a new assessment from your County Assessor.  Whether the property is your primary residence, a multi-unit apartment building, or commercial space, the assessed value can have a significant impact on the property taxes that you will owe the next year and beyond.  The assessed value is determined on March 1 of each year, and is based on several factors depending on the type of property.  The County Assessor considers everything from neighborhood and build quality for residential real estate, to estimated net operating income and capitalization rates for commercial properties.   Because a majority of the factors considered are often subjective and estimated, the assessed values can be significantly higher than the actual value of the property or neighboring properties.  

So if you think your assessment is wrong, what is the next step?

If you are or have ever been through the process of raising private capital for an emerging company, you are well aware of the regulatory framework that seems to have been created to test your commitment.  When you raise money for your venture you are almost undoubtedly selling a "security."  The offering and sale of securities are regulated by both the federal government and each state which has jurisdiction. What this means:  when you raise money, the securities you are offering are either: (1) registered; (2) exempt; or (3) illegal.  Almost every new and growth stage company will rely on an exemption from registration which is an expensive process and offering illegal securities is not a solid business plan.  (Before you ask, there is no "friends and family" exemption.)