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[Morris] Hi, I'm trademark attorney Morris Turek.
I protect individuals and businesses throughout the world
by assisting them with their important trademark matters.
Prospective clients will sometimes ask me why they should hire a trademark attorney
to prepare and file their trademark application when they could just use LegalZoom
and pay less than what most trademark lawyers would charge.
LegalZoom is an online document preparation service that claims to put the law on your side.
The reality is that LegalZoom is not a law firm, and it cannot provide you with any legal advice or guidance.
Any communications you have with LegalZoom are not protected by the attorney/client privilege
and will not be treated as confidential by the trademark office or by any court in the United States.
It can't be disputed that LegalZoom will file your trademark application at a price that is substantially less expensive
than what most trademark attorneys would charge you
to prepare and file the same application,
but are we comparing apples to apples?
Is LegalZoom really offering the same service as a trademark attorney?
The truth is that LegalZoom's trademark application service is barely a service at all.
LegalZoom merely provides you with an online questionnaire that mimics the official trademark application form
that is freely available to you on the trademark office's website.
You simply fill out the questionnaire and then submit your answers to LegalZoom
along with your credit card payment.
A LegalZoom employee then goes to the trademark office's website, retypes your answers into the application form,
and electronically submits the application to the trademark office.
Nobody at LegalZoom is checking your answers for accuracy or completeness.
In fact, nobody at LegalZoom is even checking whether your trademark is legally eligible for registration.
Furthermore, LegalZoom cannot assist you if the trademark office
rejects your trademark application or if somebody happens to file an opposition against your trademark application.
If you're thinking about using LegalZoom,
you might as well save some money and just use the application form provided by the trademark office itself.
Unlike LegalZoom, an experienced trademark attorney
will spend time speaking with you about your trademark and your business in general.
Most trademark lawyers want to build a long-term relationship with you
and will ask you a variety of questions that are not on the trademark application
to ensure that you fully understand your business and have all the information necessary
to correctly and promptly prepare your trademark application.
If you have any questions about why you should think twice about using LegalZoom for your trademark application,
please feel free to give me a call.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
[Morris Turek, Trademark Attorney] [(314) 749-4059, morris@yourtrademarkattorney.com]