Trademarks & Intellectual Property for Small Business Owners

A trademark protects brand identifiers — your business name, logo, slogan, or any distinctive mark that identifies your goods or services in the marketplace. Federal trademark registration through the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) gives you nationwide protection and the right to use the ® symbol.

Before filing, conduct a trademark search at USPTO.gov to check whether your proposed mark conflicts with existing registrations. A conflict can result in rejection of your application or, worse, a cease-and-desist letter after you've built brand equity. Many attorneys offer flat-fee trademark searches for $200–$500.

Filing a trademark application costs $250–$350 per class of goods/services through the USPTO's TEAS Plus system. The process takes 8–12 months. You can file yourself, but working with a trademark attorney reduces the risk of rejection due to procedural errors — a single rejection can cost more than the attorney's fee.

Copyright protects original creative works — written content, photographs, software code, artwork, music, and videos. In the US, copyright is automatic the moment you create an original work. You don't need to register to have copyright protection, but registration is required to sue for infringement and to collect statutory damages.

Register important works at copyright.gov — the fee is $45–$65 for a single work filed online. For businesses that produce a lot of content (blogs, photography, software), a group registration can cover multiple works at once.

When hiring contractors or freelancers to create content, code, or designs for your business, always include a work-for-hire clause in your contract. Without it, the creator — not you — owns the copyright, even if you paid for it.

Trade secrets — proprietary formulas, processes, customer lists, pricing strategies — are protected under the Defend Trade Secrets Act and Connecticut state law, but only if you take reasonable steps to keep them secret. This means using NDAs, limiting access to sensitive information, and having clear confidentiality policies.

Have every employee and contractor sign a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before they start work. Connecticut courts enforce reasonable NDAs — but they must be specific about what information is protected and for how long.

Non-compete agreements in Connecticut are enforceable but must be reasonable in scope, geography, and duration. Courts have struck down overly broad non-competes — work with an employment attorney to draft agreements that will hold up.