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Hey everyone,
I need some serious relief. Every time I want to sell something, in the back of my head I keep thinking I am going to infringe on a trademark or patent without even knowing it. So, I search. So for patents and trademarks I use USPTO and google patent search. Even after I search these I feel uneasy like I didn't do a good search or I could have missed one thing. When I do see a patent similar to mine, its like "Maybe I am infringing? Maybe not?" I can never say for sure.
It doesn't sound feasible to hire a professional to search since I am just a small time entrepreneur right now. The cost of professional search will probably cost more than the entire lot of products I plan to sell and all other business costs. The items that I plan to sell are less $20.
The other part of me is thinking that I am worrying way too much and should just say screw it and source/sell anything without thinking about it.
Example, I get a sample from alibaba for a jump rope. The ball bearing on this jump rope looks good and works well. Shit..., maybe there is a patent on it. I'll find something else...so on and so on.
Trademark question as well. If I get a DBA for a XYZ Company, I realize that it is not registered under the secretary of state, but rather under each town. So, I did a search for available business names under secretary of state. I type in XYZ Company. It says its available. But if I have a DBA and already put a TM on my logo and business name and then someone else has XYZ company, LLC and they put TM on the same business name what happens?
Questions like these are so damn hard to find on the internet, I get like scraps of information from each webpage.
Should I stop worrying and hope that sometime in the future I don't ever infringe on a patent? Because to me if I infringe on a patent its game over. They will sue me to oblivion since its a DBA under my SSN, I will pretty much be dead meat
EDIT: Or another bad scenario, get told to stop selling. Have hundreds of stuck inventory. Example, Thing like the theracane. There has got to be a patent on that. But yet I see other companies selling them.
I need some serious relief. Every time I want to sell something, in the back of my head I keep thinking I am going to infringe on a trademark or patent without even knowing it. So, I search. So for patents and trademarks I use USPTO and google patent search. Even after I search these I feel uneasy like I didn't do a good search or I could have missed one thing. When I do see a patent similar to mine, its like "Maybe I am infringing? Maybe not?" I can never say for sure.
It doesn't sound feasible to hire a professional to search since I am just a small time entrepreneur right now. The cost of professional search will probably cost more than the entire lot of products I plan to sell and all other business costs. The items that I plan to sell are less $20.
The other part of me is thinking that I am worrying way too much and should just say screw it and source/sell anything without thinking about it.
Example, I get a sample from alibaba for a jump rope. The ball bearing on this jump rope looks good and works well. Shit..., maybe there is a patent on it. I'll find something else...so on and so on.
Trademark question as well. If I get a DBA for a XYZ Company, I realize that it is not registered under the secretary of state, but rather under each town. So, I did a search for available business names under secretary of state. I type in XYZ Company. It says its available. But if I have a DBA and already put a TM on my logo and business name and then someone else has XYZ company, LLC and they put TM on the same business name what happens?
Questions like these are so damn hard to find on the internet, I get like scraps of information from each webpage.
Should I stop worrying and hope that sometime in the future I don't ever infringe on a patent? Because to me if I infringe on a patent its game over. They will sue me to oblivion since its a DBA under my SSN, I will pretty much be dead meat
EDIT: Or another bad scenario, get told to stop selling. Have hundreds of stuck inventory. Example, Thing like the theracane. There has got to be a patent on that. But yet I see other companies selling them.
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