Illinois Government Ethics Overview

While you may be aware that anyone who holds a position within the Illinois government is subject to ethical standards, you might think this responsibility only applies to senators, representatives and other political workers. Yet the reality is that local government officers, state employees, school board/commission members and Illinois government candidates are governed by the Illinois ethics laws.

Therefore, in this blog, I’d like to provide you with an overview so that those of you who are local government employees, or school board members or park district workers, or, just interested taxpayers, can become more familiar with this complex structure and its real world application.

Definition

The word “ethics” is defined as “the philosophical study of moral values and rules.” But this kind of definition is vague and hard to comprehend, especially when used in such a general way. So, to better understand ethics, it’s essential to realize that these laws are based on ensuring what is best for the individual and for society. When narrowed down even further, ethics actually defines a moral structure within which people, companies and governments are supposed to act and communicate with each other.  For purposes of this blog, I will focus on the ethics laws applicable to government and its elected officials and employees.

The Illinois General Assembly

The Illinois General Assembly recently revised the ethics structure of Illinois government. These changes were made in order to make sure all public officers and employees are accountable to the highest ethical standards. In addition, the modifications were designed to create transparency at all levels within this governmental framework. Consequently, the practices have been tightened to prevent any abuses that could compromise the government’s performance of its legal obligations to the public.

 But the new ethical mandates are not fully known or even understood by those required to apply them on a regular basis. Fortunately, the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act and the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act contain a majority of the information you need to be aware of concerning these new ethical policies.

For the most part, the statutes are quite detailed and concentrate on the state’s legislative and executive branches. Yet it should be noted that each mandate also applies to local governments, school boards, park districts and commissions. This means that each of those entities is responsible for developing local ordinances or resolutions that include and enforce the ethical requirements featured in the statutes.

Next Week

Due to the intricate nature of the revised Illinois Governmental Ethics Act and the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, it will be necessary for me to discuss them each in greater detail in my upcoming blogs. Specifically, in my next several blogs, I will take a closer look at these new ethics laws and will explain why they are so meaningful to Illinois residents, particularly those in government positions. I will also identify the principle areas of each act that have the greatest impact on political candidates, local/state government workers, school board members and Illinois taxpayers.

MAINTAINING YOUR TRADEMARK

Preventing Expiration
After you have successfully gone through the procedure of attaining a federal trademark or servicemark, you will receive a Certificate of Registration from the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. To guarantee that the respective mark or marks are valid for your lifetime and the lifetimes of your beneficiaries, you must go through a number of very specific maintenance steps.

 It’s crucial to note that unlike a copyright or a patent, your mark will not expire unless you fail to complete the required maintenance filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. If you neglect to fulfill these filing requirements, your valuable registration will be canceled and your trademark or servicemark protection will then be lost.

So once you get your Certificate of Registration, remember the exact date of your registration. You will need to make sure you send in your first maintenance filing between the fifth and sixth anniversaries of this registration date.

Two declarations are needed to confirm the mark is currently in use:

1. “Declaration of Continuing Use”            Section 8 (Cost $100)

2. “Declaration of Incontestability”           Section 15 (Cost $200)

For the Section 8 declaration, you need to verify that the mark is being utilized with respect to the goods and/or services for which this protection is registered. If, however, the mark is not in use, you must provide a reason for why this inactivity should be excused.

In terms of the Section 15 declaration, you will be asked to attest to the fact that the mark has been in continuous use for at least five consecutive years from the registration date. Like the Section 8 declaration, you’ll need to confirm that your mark still reflects the goods and/or services for which it is registered.

If you miss this deadline, you will still have a six-month grace period to file the necessary information. But after that timeframe, your registration will be canceled and all benefits will be lost.

Similar to the first set of maintenance filings, you will be expected to send documentation on the tenth anniversary of your registration. Additionally, you are required to renew your registration every ten years thereafter.

Two declarations need to be filed at this time:

1. “Declaration of Continuing Use”  - Section 8 (Cost $100)

2. “Application for Renewal” declaration - Section 9 (Cost $400)

Again, these declarations require you to confirm that the mark is still being used. For the Section 8 declaration, you need to be prepared to corroborate that the mark is in use with respect to the goods/services for which the coverage is registered. If the mark is not currently in use, then you must demonstrate why this inaction is warranted.

Keep in mind that as a trademark owner, you aren’t permitted to maintain rights in a trademark that you’re no longer using. Furthermore, you must update your registrations at the time of any maintenance filings so that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has the latest information on your marks.

Using Your Certificate of Registration

Receiving the Certificate of Registration allows you to start using the ® designation in conjunction with your trademark. To clarify for some, the ™ designation is for trademarks that are in use, but not officially registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office.

Please be aware that in instances where your mark appears multiple times on the same object, you do not need to post the ® or ™ next to each trademark or servicemark. Although such repetitive posting is allowed, it’s generally expected that the correct designation is attached to only the most prominent display of the trademark on any item or page. As such, you are not required to make further postings, if you’ve already visually established your mark.

In Conclusion

There are certain ongoing procedures that need to be fulfilled in order to protect and maintain your trademarks and/or servicemarks, so you have the assurance that your company’s image will be continuously protected. In this way, if you ever discover that your brand has been stolen, you have the legal backing to make sure this infringer faces the appropriate consequences.

Enforcing Your Trademarks and Servicemarks

What do chapstick, a thermos and aspirin have in common? These iconic brands used to be protected by trademarks, but lost their legal rights over time. Unfortunately, the rightful owners of these brands were not aggressive enough in protecting their images. Now, the brand names that they created are used as generic terms in popular culture. So the original owners of these brands can no longer stop anyone from using their names. It’s too late.

Although I’ve provided some famous examples, the same type of trademark loss can occur with your brand if you’re not careful.  While it is extremely important to shield your image by obtaining trademarks and/or servicemarks, you can’t just stop there. The fact is, you always need to be on the lookout for any infringements. Quite honestly, the welfare of your business is at stake.

To give you a better understanding of what could happen if you don’t watch over your trademarks or servicemarks, there are three practical reasons for being vigilant:

·        Confusion in the marketplace – If another business, knowingly or unknowingly, starts using your image, consumers could become confused about your name. You may wind up missing out on potential revenue because clients accidentally turn to your competition, thinking they’re coming to you. So it’s critical that you always protect your name, your distinction in the marketplace, to eliminate the possibility of your brand getting blurred and the valuable distinction of your business product or service being lost. Furthermore, if you don’t take action in this scenario, you will eventually be seen from a legal standpoint as having abandoned your marks.

·        Dilution of your brand – If you become lax and don’t object to other businesses using your name or some aspect of your brand, you also run the risk of your image being diluted. The result is that your unique and distinct name won’t mean anything anymore because so many other businesses share it. This can and should be stopped before the potency of your name becomes meaningless in the marketplace.

·        Financial losses – If you don’t stand up for your marks, it’s very possible that other businesses could be financially benefiting from your advertising by poaching your potential customers. That’s because they’re openly using your name to make money.

The logical conclusion is that you need to be ready to enforce your trademarks and servicemarks at a moment’s notice. When you discover another business is ignoring your rights as the holder of these marks, then it’s time to take action.

Steps to Take

Once you discover that someone has used your name, the response is very simple: Immediately contact an intellectual property attorney in order to issue a cease and desist letter to the infringing party. The purpose of this letter is to give this individual or company notice that what they’re doing violates your intellectual property rights and constitutes an illegal use of your brand.

Included with this letter, your attorney will provide a copy of your pending or existing marks to supply undeniable proof of your brand ownership. Furthermore, the letter will make clear that the offender needs to stop using your mark without delay.

If this violation persists after a five-day period, then it’s time to go to the next level. Your attorney will promptly seek legal action to enforce your rights in either state or federal court under a trademark or servicemark infringement claim. This process involves getting a restraining order, which stops the entity from stealing your mark.

Secondly, your attorney will seek a court order that will compel the infringing business to divulge all of the financial gains that it received from illegally using your brand. Once this information is disclosed, you will then seek a court order that awards to your business, all of the profits made by the infringing party, because these profits rightfully belong to your business. And as a final kicker, you are entitled to seek reimbursement from the infringing party for all of the attorney fees that were caused by this unlawful infringement.

In Conclusion

By taking the time and investing the money to obtain trademarks and/or servicemarks, the image of your business is protected. But, the reality is that a clever company can find ways to benefit from your brand, even if you’re the legal owner. For this reason, I recommend that you periodically perform a search online to determine if anyone is illegally using your intellectual property. If you discover an infringement, contact your intellectual property attorney.

 

 

 

Understanding Trademarks and Servicemarks

In my last blog, I explained the importance of protecting your business’ image once you begin to expand. The goal is to make sure nobody can come along and steal your brand out from under you. And this can be accomplished by obtaining trademarks and servicemarks for your company’s unique presence in the marketplace. Generally speaking, trademarks are meant to guard a unique product created by your business and servicemarks are designed to protect a unique name, logo or tagline that identifies your business.  If you’ll recall from my previous blog, logos, designs, slogans, taglines and even domain names all fall under trademark or servicemark protection.

But there is much more to getting this legal coverage than you might think. For this reason, I want to go into greater detail about the process of attaining trademarks and servicemarks for your business.

State Protection

Let’s say your business is based in Chicago and it’s really starting to grow and gain much needed visibility in the marketplace. At this point, you should consider investing in the necessary protections so that nobody can steal your brand.

The good news is that you can safeguard your brand very easily by going online. The State of Illinois streamlines the procedure by providing all of the required applications that you need to fill out. For a $10 fee, you may submit your application and if approved by the Secretary of State, you will be awarded the exclusive right to use your.

However, even though your brand can’t be touched within Illinois, someone just ten miles southwest in Indiana could appropriate your brand. That’s because the applications you sent to the Illinois Secretary of State do not protect your company’s image beyond Illinois. So you might think about registering your brand in nearby states such as Indiana and Wisconsin as well.

National Protection

But what if your company continues to grow and quickly becomes recognized in other regions of the country? You could take the time to send in trademark and servicemark applications to each state that potentially touches your business. Keep in mind, though, that the costs and the time investment may add up faster than you might think.

So, a more economical option may be to seek federally registered servicemark and/or trademark protection through the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in Washington DC. By taking this route, you’re applying for the exclusive right to use your brand in all 50 states and to have the right to stop someone from stealing your brand even if you are not currently doing business in that state. The federal application process is understandably longer, because the USPTO must conduct an initial search of its federal records to determine if any other businesses are already using a brand similar to your own. An examiner in Washington then has to do his/her own due diligence to provide a thorough investigation and ensure that nobody else owns or has applied to own, a brand similar to your brand.

In addition, the federal agency publishes your proposed brand name, logo and/or tagline in a national magazine. This publication is then sent to every intellectual property attorney around the nation. If your image is already in use by another business across the country, you can be sure the lawyer who represents that individual company will inform USPTO immediately.

While applying for a federal trademark/servicemark does cost a significant amount of money due to application costs and other fees, your business’ brand will be protected nationwide. Furthermore, by going through this procedure, you’ll also find out if other companies may already be using your brand, thereby avoiding possible future infringement claims against your business and your loss of the right to use marketing materials (Web site, letterhead, business cards) relating to this already owned brand. The result could be that you decide to tweak or slightly revise your brand. Then you may have the potential to stand out even more in the marketplace.

Copyrights

While your brand can be adequately protected by state or federal trademark/servicemark registrations, your business may also seek copyright protection of your brand images and taglines. By obtaining this type of protection from the U.S. Copyright office, you will be shielding original works that are published or unpublished. Typically, copyrights are designed for literary, musical, visual or other kinds of artistic creations. If this applies to your business, it may be wise to obtain a copyright.

But copyrights are a form of protection for the authors of “original works of authorship.” As such, a copyright may not cover titles, names, short phrases and slogans, lettering or coloring unless such image or information is sufficiently original and complex. For example, the Nike “swoosh” logo is extremely simple and would not qualify for copyright protection even though the image is protected as an invaluable trademark.

On a Final Note

The notion of obtaining trademarks and servicemarks can seem overwhelming at first. But it is not a complicated process. If you want to get this type of protection on a state-by-state level, you can get the applications online and fill them out by yourself.

On the other hand, if you’d prefer not to cherry-pick and you need protection that covers the entire country, I advise you to seek the expertise of an experienced intellectual property attorney. The interactions with USPTO and the federal examiner are much more involved than the simple state application process. So this is not something you should undertake without legal counsel.

Protecting Your Company's Image: An Overview

You’ve developed a successful business with an expanding client base. Everything seems to be going in the right direction. This is a wonderful position to be in and I congratulate you for creating such a prosperous enterprise. Building and maintaining a business is tough.

But, up to this point, you’ve probably only focused on paying your bills and marketing your services. And while these day-to-day tasks are key to the company’s well-being, you must not overlook the importance of safeguarding your image, especially as your business starts to grow.

Now, when I refer to “safeguarding your image,” I am focusing on protecting your brand. And since you’ve established yourself in the marketplace, securing your company’s brand is not a luxury. It’s a necessity. Indeed, without the proper protections in place to protect your brand, it’s quite possible that everything you’ve generated could be taken away from you without any notice. That’s why I am dedicating this blog to the best way you can preserve the brand of your business.

In Practical Terms

To help my clients understand the importance of protecting  their brand, I often ask a question that may come across as shocking to some:  if an individual were to come along and steal your entire business from you, how much ransom would you pay to get it back? Now, that might sound like a hypothetical situation. However, it happens all the time.

So, for this reason, I always advise business owners to obtain trademarks and servicemarks to protect the intellectual property associated with their companies. Generally, you will recall from my earlier blogs that a trademark is used to protect a product and a servicemark is used to protect for a business’ name.

The protection you receive from either trademarks or servicemarks should be used in the following three situations:

·        If you have something that can be seen such as a logo or a design, it should be protected by a trademark or a servicemark.

·        If you have an item that can be heard or said such as a slogan or a tagline, it should be protected by a trademark or a servicemark.

·        If you own something that someone else might try to hijack like a domain name, it should be protected by a trademark or a servicemark.

Whether you wish to protect these elements on the state or the federal level, trademarks and servicemarks do the trick. And the little “TM” or “SM” next to your brand name or design will give notice to the world that you have the absolute and exclusive right to this valuable intellectual property. This will serve as a serious warning to anyone who might otherwise be considering  stealing the brand that represents your business. For a reasonable fee (approximately $10), you can ensure your image is sheltered in Illinois. If you wish to secure the same protection in another state in which you currently do business or expect to do business in the future, you can easily do so by registering for this trademark or servicemark with the Secretary of State of that other state. If you wish to have protection of your brand on a national level and be protected in all fifty states, you will need to apply for a federal trademark or servicemark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. While the process is a bit more lengthy (6-8 months) and more expensive (approximately $2,500), it is worth the extra time and expense if your business brand is being exposed to the public on a national level.

Additionally, by going through the registration process, you may find out if your brand is already in use by another business. If so, you can consider your options for modifying your brand so as to avoid an infringement claim or for contacting the owner of the trademark/servicemark to discuss how you may license or purchase the trademark/servicemark and thereby preserve your brand without having to alter it. In this way, you’ll not only retain the investment in all of your company’s marketing materials, you’ll have the power to stop someone else from pirating your brand in the future.

Coming Soon

Next time, I will go into more depth about the differences between a trademark and a servicemark. I’ll also briefly discuss the protection of a copyright and I will provide you with essential information about the process of obtaining these protections. Plus, whether you’re looking for state or federal coverage of your brand, I’ll discuss the steps involved in making sure another business owner is unable to seize your image.

CASHIER’S CHECKS – DON’T BE A VICTIM!

In my last post, I presented an overview of the types of fraud that currently are being perpetrated using Cashier’s checks. In this post, I will provide my recommendations on how to best protect yourself from this type of fraud. Since a cashier’s check is designed to be issued by a banking institution, many people automatically trust the paper it’s printed on without a second thought. But advanced printers and clever scammers have proven that such blind trust can be a costly mistake.

Sadly, it can be difficult to figure out if a cashier’s check is counterfeit or not. In fact, your bank may not even know until the other bank returns it as unpaid and this could easily take weeks to be discovered. Today’s con artists do everything they can to make the check look as authentic as possible in order to delay the detection.

Protect Yourself

But there are ways you can protect yourself from becoming a victim of cashier’s check fraud. Some important things to keep in mind are:

·        Don’t do business with strangers. While it’s not always possible to know each person with whom you engage in business relations, it’s best to be cautious about accepting checks from individuals you don’t know. If you enter a business deal with someone you’ve never met before, make the effort to verify information about the buyer from an independent third party.

·        Consider escrow services or online payment systems when selling goods or services. When you use escrow systems or processing services such as PayPal, the money is then held until it clears. So you have an extra layer of protection from fraud. However, there are escrow services that scam people as well. Also, the online payment system can include expensive fees. That’s why it’s crucial to be careful and do your research.

·        When accepting a cashier’s check, be suspicious if it is for more than your selling price. The key to a majority of these scams is that you’re expected to wire an excess amount of money to a third party. So it’s logical to wonder why a complete stranger would provide you with funds that are the property of someone else. This should immediately serve as a warning.

In general, if you receive correspondence of any kind that claims you’re entitled to a large sum of money and you only owe a small fee, that’s a red flag. The rule of thumb should always be that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is a scam.

If you choose to do business with someone who offers you a cashier’s check, remember to save every document associated with this transaction. The paperwork may be very valuable if a problem with this deal surfaces down the line.

Caution and good sense are important whenever you enter into any business deal. So don’t jump into a transaction that involves a cashier’s check until you have thoroughly investigated every detail. Otherwise, you could be left owing a large sum of money and possibly losing an expensive product to scammers in the online marketplace.

As a final matter, remember that the best way to avoid becoming a victim of Cashier’s check fraud, is to only conduct business transactions in which all funds are delivered to your bank by a wire transfer. Wire transfers are cash and essentially fraud-proof.

Cashier's Checks - Not Always Good as Gold

In today’s digital age, many transactions are now being done on the Internet. For this reason, my colleagues and I in the legal community have noticed that online fraud cases are on the rise. One of the principle forms of this type of financial deception involves the cashier’s check. Once considered a consistently trustworthy payment, cashier’s checks have become more questionable due to sophisticated scammers. This means a supposedly bank-issued check may not be as good as gold anymore.

 

It’s an unfortunate reality that cashier’s check fraud is a booming business for criminals both near and far. So I’d like to focus this blog on how you can protect yourself from cashier’s check schemes.

 

Types of Cashier’s Check Scams

 

According to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), there are a number of different cons that have been developed using cashier’s checks. These include:

• Online goods – If you have a product for sale online, a buyer sends you a cashier’s check for the ticketed price. Then you send the item to the buyer. You and your bank discover later that the check was fraudulent. Therefore, you lose both the product and the money you charged for this item.
• Purchase price and more – This scam is similar to an online goods sale except that the buyer sends you a cashier’s check in an amount that is more than your advertised purchase price. As a result, the buyer requests that you send the excess money to a third party, which could be located in a foreign country. After you follow these directions and wire the money as instructed, you learn that the check has no monetary value.
• Lottery win or legal settlement – You receive a letter stating that you’ve won a foreign lottery or you have the legal right to some kind of substantial settlement. The letter explains that in order to get this money, you need to pay a processing fee or transfer tax. However, the enclosed cashier’s check will cover that amount. All you need to do is deposit the check and wire the designated funds to a third party. In the end, that cashier’s check is worthless.
• Mystery shopping payment – A letter is sent to you that explains you’ve been selected to be a mystery shopper. With the enclosed cashier’s check, you’re asked to use a certain sum to buy merchandise and transfer another portion to a third party. The rest of the monies are yours to pay for your services. After depositing the cashier’s check and wiring the designated amount, you learn that you’ve been scammed.

In each one of the above scenarios, the fake cashier’s check will be returned to your bank as unpaid. Therefore, the amount of this check will be deducted from your account. If you don’t have the funds, the bank will go after you for the cashier’s check amount. The inevitable conclusion is that you will lose the goods that you sold, if that was the set-up, the funds that you sent to a third party or both your property and the wired money.

 

In my next post, I'll discuss how you can avoid becoming a victim.