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[sheridan93]

Lets say you have the designs, money, and a name for your brand in mind. What comes next. Please give me the steps in order of what I need to do next. Such as trademarking and copyright. Please try to be as detailed as possible and please put it in sequential order.

[ring]

copyright and trademark in the USA are both free, instantaneous and automatic.

0. create a limited liability entity to avoid being personally liable for business mistakes. Make yourself an "employee" so that the "company" automatically owns everything you create for it.
1. do a "knock-out" search of designs that are already being used as trademarks in your field. Avoid anything similar, if you don't want to have legal troubles.
2. put a design on paper or in computer memory. It is now copyrighted.
3. manufacture a product using the design as an indication of source or quality.
4. offer the product in "commerce". The design is now a trademark.
5. follow-up with various options:
You may optionally place copyright notice on your design.
You may optionally register your claim of copyright ownership.
You may optionally use (tm) on your design to indicated your claim of trademark.
You may optionally register the design as a trademark in one or more states or in one or more countries.
Once a trademark has a federal registration, you may use circle-R ® on the design.