January 2013
Volume VI, Issue III
CALENDAR
- January 22, 2013 – 2013 MRA Post Holiday Party 2013, City Bar – The Lenox Hotel, Boston
- February 15, 2013 – Mass Lodging Association, Stars of the Industry Awards Luncheon, Colonnade Hotel, Boston
February 16-17, 2013 – 22nd Annual Boston Wine Expo 2013, Seaport World Trade
Center and Seaport Hotel. - March 10-12, 2013 – 2013 New England Food Show, Boston Convention Center. Please come and visit the attorneys of Ruberto, Israel & Weiner at our booth in the New Exhibitor Pavillion. We look forward to seeing you there.
- March 11, 2013 – Save the Date: MRA Annual Awards Dinner
Trademark Scams and Misleading Solicitations
by Stacey Carrara Friends, Esq.
Misleading solicitations and scams related to trademark registrations seem to be more and more prevalent lately. Here are some tips so you can spot the scams, not waste valuable time responding to them or checking on their validity, or even worse, being taken in by them.
There are three main types of solicitations to be aware of: 1) notices about renewing your trademark; 2) notices about the publication of your trademark, and 3) Emails about domain names including your trademark being registered by someone else.
Notices about Renewing your Trademark – These are arguably the most pernicious because they seem so real. They often come from organizations with names that resemble the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), such as the “United States Trademark Registration Office,” “Patent & Trademark Agency,” or, more recently, “Trademark Renewal Service” (see attached example, included here with the kind permission of our client, Paradigm Works). These notices may include some accurate information about your trademark and warn you that the registration will be cancelled if you do not renew. Even cleverer is that these companies are sending the notices BEFORE the time frame for filing the renewal, which means their notices are beating our reminder letters to you. The notices ask for a high fee to file the necessary documents, or, as is the case with the Trademark Renewal Service, a $200 fee just to receive the documents needed to renew. Please be aware that you should never receive anything from the USPTO (or any international trademark office, either, such as WIPO or OHIM) about renewing your registrations. This is something that you need to calendar yourself, and which we help you with through our docketing system. Any other notices from the USPTO or other official organization will come to Ruberto, Israel & Weiner as your representative, so you should never receive anything directly. If you did, it would come from the USPTO in Alexandria, VA, or if by email, from an address at uspto.gov. Click here to read full article.
RIW attorneys Lou Katz and Russ Stein led a panel during the 2012 Restaurant Finance & Development Conference in Las Vegas November 12-14, 2012. The panel “How To Structure An Early Stage Equity Raise For Rapid Growth” featured panelists: Nick Marsh, CEO of Chop’t Creative Salad; John Pepper, CEO of Boloco; and Mitch Roberts, CEO of PR Management Corporation (Panera Franchisee). Highlights of the panel and panelist quotes were featured in a Restaurant Finance Monitor article. Click here to read full article.
Industry Trends
- Best Industries 2012: Full-Service Restaurants 6 Hot Trends in
Eating Out - 6 Trends Changing the Hotel Industry
- 10 Hospitality Industry Trends for 2012-2013
- What technologies are on the horizon for the retail industry
Marketing Corner
Attention Getter
There are a number of wireless devices emerging on the market for alerting wait staff to customer needs. The restaurant version of the familiar airline overhead call button.
While there are many such devices, one that caught our attention was a table lamp that changes color depending on your need (red for water; green for bill; and blue for ready to order).
Maybe too impersonal for some, but for others a subtle way to connect servers with restless diners, without servers having to hover or diners constantly trying to attract the attention of a busy server.
Ruberto, Israel & Weiner attorneys have comprehensive knowledge and expertise in the areas of law in which they practice and the industries served. Attorneys in RIW’s Hospitality Practice Group have provided legal services to industry clients for over 30 years.
Additionally, our attorneys organize seminars, lecture, write articles, participate in trade associations, and serve on Boards of Advisors for retail, food and hospitality industry companies.
For a full description of our Hospitality Practice Group, including a list of representative clients, click here.
INDUSTRY GROUP ATTORNEYS
Kelly Caralis, Mergers & Acquisitions and Leasing
kac@riw.com
Bradley Croft, Construction Law
blc@riw.com
Michael J. Duffy, Litigation
mjd@riw.com
Stacey Friends, Trademarks and Branding
sfriends@riw.com
Bethany Grazio, Mergers & Acquisitions and Financing
bag@riw.com
Louis Katz, Mergers & Acquisitions and Leasing
lck@riw.com
Joe Magner, Litigation
jnm@riw.com
David Robinson, Litigation
dwr@riw.com
Michael D. Rosen, Commercial Real Estate; Zoning; Land Use; Leasing & Financing and Green Initiatives
mdr@riw.com
Russell Stein, Mergers & Acquisitions and Leasing
rns@riw.com
ARCHIVES
Click here for past articles on a range of issues including: Finance; Leasing; Data Security; Succession & Estate Planning; Disputes; Construction; and Branding.
Published by Ruberto, Israel & Weiner. Kelly A. Caralis, Esq., Editor.
