Avoid the Legal Horrors with Julie King: Patent, Trademark, and Business Strategy

Julie King
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Your business has IP worth protecting. Your brand deal contract may be signing it away. Your AI tools may not be as confidential as you think. I'm Julie King, a patent, IP, & business attorney with 25+ years of experience, and I make intellectual property and business law actually interesting—with a rock-and-horror twist. Patents, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets, brand deals, and business law for small business owners and creators. No jargon. No condescension. Just the stuff you actually need to know. Avoid the legal horrors and keep rocking your IP. 💀🎸 Contact info at kingpatentlaw.

  1. 11h ago ·  Video

    Trademark Scams: How to Spot Them Before and After You File. Fake Lawyers, Shady Filing Services, and Scam Letters

    You just filed a trademark application, and a letter shows up demanding payment to keep your protection active. It's a scam. But it's only one version of a much bigger problem. Trademark scams show up before you ever file, disguised as the online filing services and attorneys you'd hire to help you. They show up as emails, letters, phone calls, and too-good-to-be-true websites. Most business owners get targeted at some point, whether they've filed or not. This episode is the full picture: how to avoid getting scammed before you file, how to spot it if it's already happening, and what to do if it already happened to you. In this episode: Why the knowledge gap around trademark law is the scammers' entire business modelHow to vet an online filing service: USPTO warning lists, reviews, and the fine printWhy there's no single official list of trademark attorneys, attorney identity theft, and how to check state bar recordsWebsite phrases that are hard stops: "guaranteed registration," "approved by the USPTO," and "direct hit search" sold as a premium serviceThe post-filing scams: private registries, fake Office Actions, and fake attorney "someone just filed your mark" warningsHijacked correspondence emails, spoofed USPTO calls, and pay-to-be-examined pitchesWhat to do if you've already been scammed, and where to report suspicious contactFull blog post with FAQ: https://kingpatentlaw.com/trademark-scams-how-to-spot-fake-filing-services-fake-lawyers-and-scam-letters/ Timestamps:00:00 - The letter that arrives right after you file - I received a scam letter for my own trademark application 00:52 - Trademark scams are everywhere, all the time. Why? And what can you do?02:06 - How to avoid getting scammed02:12 - Online services - do your due diligence02:59 - Is the attorney a real attorney?04:30 - Don't hire a "trademark lawyer" from Fiverr. Seriously. Don't.05:10 - "Attorney backed" or "UPSTO-approved" or "Guaranteed approval" online services - HOOEY!!!!!06:27 -  Scams after you file08:45 - Other common scams09:59 - Hypothetical: how a DIY filer gets scammed12:03 - What happens to your application if the "attorney" is a fraud?14:21 - Rules that shut these scams down15:59 -  If you've been scammed16:31 - What to do if you're not sure Avoid the legal horrors and keep rocking your IP. 💀🎸 Subscribe for IP education for creators, podcasters, and small business owners. 📰 Sign up for the Avoid the Legal Horrors newsletter: https://kingpatentlaw.com/newsletter/ 📅 Ready to protect your brand and business? Book a consultation: https://kingpatentlaw.com/appointments/consultation/I help creators and small business owners with IP matters nationwide and with contracts in Illinois. @kingpatentlaw on social media DISCLAIMER: This information is for educational purposes only, is not legal advice, and does not form an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, consult with a licensed attorney. This content contains attorney advertising material. Julie King | King Patent Law, PLLC | 301 N Neil St Ste 400, Champaign IL 61820. Phone number and email address available at kingpatentlaw.com.

    Trademark Scams: How to Spot Them Before and After You File. Fake Lawyers, Shady Filing Services, and Scam Letters

  2. 2d ago ·  Video

    Registered Your Podcast's Trademark? The Work Isn't Over

    If you've already registered a trademark for your podcast name, here's what a lot of people don't realize: registration isn't the finish line. You'll owe the USPTO proof of continued use between years five and six, and again every ten years after that; miss those deadlines and the registration can lapse quietly, with no warning call. I'm tracking this exact thing for a show of my own right now. Avoid the legal horrors and keep rocking your IP. 💀🎸 Subscribe for IP education for creators, podcasters, and small business owners. 📰 Sign up for the Avoid the Legal Horrors newsletter: https://kingpatentlaw.com/newsletter/ 📅 Ready to protect your brand and business? Book a consultation: https://kingpatentlaw.com/appointments/consultation/I help creators and small business owners with IP matters nationwide and with contracts in Illinois. @kingpatentlaw on social media DISCLAIMER: This information is for educational purposes only, is not legal advice, and does not form an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, consult with a licensed attorney. This content contains attorney advertising material. Julie King | King Patent Law, PLLC | 301 N Neil St Ste 400, Champaign IL 61820. Phone number and email address available at kingpatentlaw.com.

    Registered Your Podcast's Trademark? The Work Isn't Over

  3. 5d ago ·  Video

    Your Trademark Can Die of Success. Here's How.

    Otis Elevator Company used to own the trademark "escalator." Then everyone started calling every moving staircase an escalator, and the company lost the exclusive right to the word entirely. That's genericide, and it can happen to a growing brand with perfect paperwork and zero competitors involved. Here's the simple, easy to skip fix. Under two minutes. Avoid the legal horrors and keep rocking your IP. 💀🎸 Subscribe for IP education for creators, podcasters, and small business owners. 📰 Sign up for the Avoid the Legal Horrors newsletter: https://kingpatentlaw.com/newsletter/ 📅 Ready to protect your brand and business? Book a consultation: https://kingpatentlaw.com/appointments/consultation/I help creators and small business owners with IP matters nationwide and with contracts in Illinois. @kingpatentlaw on social media DISCLAIMER: This information is for educational purposes only, is not legal advice, and does not form an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, consult with a licensed attorney. This content contains attorney advertising material. Julie King | King Patent Law, PLLC | 301 N Neil St Ste 400, Champaign IL 61820. Phone number and email address available at kingpatentlaw.com.

    Your Trademark Can Die of Success. Here's How.

  4. Oct 6 ·  Video

    Protecting Your Trademark from Post-Registration Legal Horrors

    If you think getting your trademark registered means the work is done, this episode is for you. Registration is the start of an ongoing responsibility, not the finish line. I walk through the three separate ways a registered mark can weaken, lapse, or slip away after that certificate arrives, and most owners have only ever heard of one of them. In this episode: — Why the exact way you registered your mark determines how much you can change (font, color, wording) before you lose protection — How genericide happens, and why popularity can be the thing that kills your mark — Why ignoring a confusingly similar new mark for too long can cost you the ability to act on it — The USPTO maintenance deadlines (years five to six, then every ten years after that) and what happens if you miss them — The three things that keep a registration strong, long after the certificate is framed Full episode blog post with FAQ section: https://kingpatentlaw.com/protecting-your-trademark-from-post-registration-legal-horrors/ Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 01:27 - Using your mark correctly (and avoiding genericide) 05:07 - Watching for confusingly similar marks 08:15 - Maintaining your registration with the USPTO 10:27 - Hypothetical example 11:44 - The three things that keep your registration strong 12:39 - Review of Use and monitoring services 13:14 - Related: proper specimens of use Avoid the legal horrors and keep rocking your IP. 💀🎸 Subscribe for IP education for creators, podcasters, and small business owners. 📰 Sign up for the Avoid the Legal Horrors newsletter: https://kingpatentlaw.com/newsletter/ 📅 Ready to protect your brand and business? Book a consultation: https://kingpatentlaw.com/appointments/consultation/I help creators and small business owners with IP matters nationwide and with contracts in Illinois. @kingpatentlaw on social media (NOT X) DISCLAIMER: This information is for educational purposes only, is not legal advice, and does not form an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, consult with a licensed attorney. This content contains attorney advertising material. Julie King | King Patent Law, PLLC | 301 N Neil St Ste 400, Champaign IL 61820. Phone number and email address available at kingpatentlaw.com.

    Protecting Your Trademark from Post-Registration Legal Horrors

  5. Sep 17 ·  Video

    The Provisional Patent Mistake That Costs Inventors Later

    A thin, cheaply-filed provisional patent application can end up costing you far more than it saved, in narrower patent protection later. Here's a real example of how that happens. Check out this week's longer episode, "Provisional Patent Applications: What They Do and Don't Do, and What "Patent Pending" Really Means" for more details. Avoid the legal horrors and keep rocking your IP. 💀🎸 Subscribe for IP education for creators, podcasters, and small business owners. 📰 Sign up for the Avoid the Legal Horrors newsletter: https://kingpatentlaw.com/newsletter/ 📅 Ready to protect your brand and business? Book a consultation: https://kingpatentlaw.com/appointments/consultation/I help creators and small business owners with IP matters nationwide and with contracts in Illinois and Georgia. @kingpatentlaw on social media (NOT X) DISCLAIMER: This information is for educational purposes only, is not legal advice, and does not form an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, consult with a licensed attorney. This content contains attorney advertising material. Julie King | King Patent Law, PLLC | 301 N Neil St Ste 400, Champaign IL 61820. Phone number and email address available at kingpatentlaw.com.

    The Provisional Patent Mistake That Costs Inventors Later

  6. Sep 16 ·  Video

    Patent Pending Doesn't Mean What You Think

    Filing a provisional patent application does not mean your invention is protected. Here's what "patent pending" actually means, and what it doesn't. Check out this week's longer episode, "Provisional Patent Applications: What They Do and Don't Do, and What "Patent Pending" Really Means" for more details. Avoid the legal horrors and keep rocking your IP. 💀🎸 Subscribe for IP education for creators, podcasters, and small business owners. 📰 Sign up for the Avoid the Legal Horrors newsletter: https://kingpatentlaw.com/newsletter/ 📅 Ready to protect your brand and business? Book a consultation: https://kingpatentlaw.com/appointments/consultation/I help creators and small business owners with IP matters nationwide and with contracts in Illinois and Georgia. @kingpatentlaw on social media (NOT X) DISCLAIMER: This information is for educational purposes only, is not legal advice, and does not form an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, consult with a licensed attorney. This content contains attorney advertising material. Julie King | King Patent Law, PLLC | 301 N Neil St Ste 400, Champaign IL 61820. Phone number and email address available at kingpatentlaw.com.

    Patent Pending Doesn't Mean What You Think

  7. Sep 15 ·  Video

    Provisional Patent Applications: What They Do and Don't Do, and What "Patent Pending" Really Means

    "Patent pending" sounds like it comes with magical powers, protection while you develop, test, pitch investors, and bring your product to market. It's not that simple, and misunderstanding the difference can cost inventors real patent rights. This week I explain what a provisional patent application actually does, what "patent pending" actually means, and what can go wrong when a provisional isn't drafted to hold up, including a real-world example of a thin provisional narrowing the protection a client was ultimately able to get. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 – Intro: Why "patent pending" isn't what most people think 01:06 – What a provisional patent application actually gives you 02:17 – "Patent pending" as a notice, not a shield 02:36 – What investors actually want to see 03:23 – The 12-month window and why it's the riskiest period 05:08 – Why the USPTO won't catch a weak provisional for you 06:14 – The most important purpose of a provisional patent application06:37 – Real-world example: when a thin provisional costs you claims08:15 – Two questions to ask before you file 09:07 – Takeaway + how to work with Julie Avoid the legal horrors and keep rocking your IP. 💀🎸 Subscribe for IP education for creators, podcasters, and small business owners. 📰 Sign up for the Avoid the Legal Horrors newsletter: https://kingpatentlaw.com/newsletter/ 📅 Ready to protect your brand and business? Book a consultation: https://kingpatentlaw.com/appointments/consultation/I help creators and small business owners with IP matters nationwide and with contracts in Illinois and Georgia. @kingpatentlaw on social media (NOT X) DISCLAIMER: This information is for educational purposes only, is not legal advice, and does not form an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, consult with a licensed attorney. This content contains attorney advertising material. Julie King | King Patent Law, PLLC | 301 N Neil St Ste 400, Champaign IL 61820. Phone number and email address available at kingpatentlaw.com.

    Provisional Patent Applications: What They Do and Don't Do, and What "Patent Pending" Really Means

  8. Sep 10 ·  Video

    Generic Trademarks: The Kiss of Death

    Aspirin. Escalator. Thermos. All former trademarks that became generic and lost protection. Podcasters run into a version of this constantly: naming a show exactly what it's about, then finding out that's the hardest kind of name to protect. Avoid the legal horrors and keep rocking your IP. 💀🎸 📰 Sign up for the Avoid the Legal Horrors newsletter: https://kingpatentlaw.com/newsletter/ 📅 Ready to protect your brand and business? Book a consultation: https://kingpatentlaw.com/appointments/consultation/I help creators and small business owners with IP matters nationwide and with contracts in Illinois and Georgia. @kingpatentlaw on social media (NOT X) DISCLAIMER: This information is for educational purposes only, is not legal advice, and does not form an attorney-client relationship. For advice about your specific situation, consult with a licensed attorney. This content contains attorney advertising material. Julie King | King Patent Law, PLLC | 301 N Neil St Ste 400, Champaign IL 61820. Phone number and email address available at kingpatentlaw.com.

    Generic Trademarks: The Kiss of Death
See All (227)

About

Your business has IP worth protecting. Your brand deal contract may be signing it away. Your AI tools may not be as confidential as you think. I'm Julie King, a patent, IP, & business attorney with 25+ years of experience, and I make intellectual property and business law actually interesting—with a rock-and-horror twist. Patents, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets, brand deals, and business law for small business owners and creators. No jargon. No condescension. Just the stuff you actually need to know. Avoid the legal horrors and keep rocking your IP. 💀🎸 Contact info at kingpatentlaw.

Information

You Might Also Like