Surely you’ve heard the old phrase “image is everything.” In today’s world of social media influencing, endorsements, and licensing, this is very much still the case… maybe more now than ever before. You are your brand and your brand is your reputation! It’s how people see you and what they think of you. With social media apps and the internet building and cultivating a profitable personal brand doesn’t require celebrity status. Your personal brand can easily be monetized to be a primary or secondary source of income.

 

HOW WE CAN HELP YOU

  

Adequate intellectual property (“IP”) protection for personal brands can encompass trademarks, copyrights, and contracts for a range of issues including endorsements and licensing use of your IP. Mickey Law Group can advise you through the entire process of securing and protecting your intellectual property.

 

IP Strategy & Counseling

MLG provides advice and counsel on developing and protecting your personal brand by strategizing with clients to determine what intellectual property assets already exist or perhaps can be created. We begin by educating our clients about what qualifies as IP, how IP protection works, and how to secure your rights. There are a lot of misconceptions out there about trademarks and copyrights in particular. We take the time to explain the differences and counsel clients on which one they need and how to achieve final registration. In addition, we identify other IP-related matters that our client’s may need such as licensing and endorsement contracts and provide insight on structuring a deal that will be most beneficial for them. 

 

Secure Your IP Rights

We are experienced with filing trademark applications with the USPTO and obtaining copyright protection with the US Copyright Office on behalf of clients. We also recognize that obtaining a trademark is more than simply filing an application and each client’s needs are unique. We provide a personalized approach. Before we ever file an application, MLG does preliminary work to identify and overcome any possible obstacles to successfully registering your mark. 

 

Police Your Brand

Once we have secured your IP rights via trademarks or copyrights, we monitor your brand to ensure there is no unauthorized use by anyone else. You need someone looking out for you to make sure no one else is profiting from your brand. If any unauthorized use is found, we take swift action to put a stop to it. Sometimes a cease and desist letter or takedown notice works and sometimes it takes a lawsuit. MLG quickly assesses any unauthorized use and takes the necessary action so that your brand isn’t diluted or made less valuable.

 

WHO DO WE HELP

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There are no limits to who can build a profitable personal brand but protecting that brand should start from the very beginning. It is important to speak with a lawyer and protect your brand as soon as possible. The sad truth is that people can and will try to take advantage of you and your brand. We want to help stop that before it happens. Our firm is located in Houston TX, but we serve intellectual property clients all over the country.

 

MLG provides brand protection to a variety of different types of clients including athletes (professional, college, high-school, up-and-coming), entertainers, make-up artists, social media influencers, authors and journalists, and business coaches. We pride ourselves on serving a diverse client-base and offering them a customized strategy to protect and elevate their brand.

 

Athletes

No matter if you are a high school, college, or professional athlete, you should be thinking early on about cultivating and protecting your personal brand. While professional sports careers can be lucrative by themselves, endorsements and commercials are an additional source of income and can easily outlast a sports career.

 

Many athletes think that they need to wait until their "big break" to start protecting their intellectual property, but that's simply not true. With the NCAA Board of Governors considering a proposed change to current NCAA rules to allow student-athletes to receive compensation for third-party endorsements, student-athletes should seek legal advice about their IP rights as soon as possible.

 

Athletes with significant name recognition run the risk of someone else attempting to trademark their names, slogans, or catchphrases. While most likely unsuccessful, it will cost you a considerable amount of time and money to protect yourself from infringement. Don’t wait to play defense, stay ahead of the game and invest in protecting your intellectual property assets early on.

 

Social Media Influencers

Social media influencers, much like athletes, are their brands. Social media influencing is a billion-dollar industry. Previously, when we thought of brands we were talking about physical products or services, but now each person can become their own brand with their own protectable assets. People use social media to showcase various lifestyles, products, and skills and gain followers which then turn into paid advertisement and endorsement deals. Many attorneys are unaware of the new laws that are being created to govern social media and the internet. But Mickey Legal Group stays up to date on all of the latest developments regarding influencer marketing, advertising law, and contract law that could affect your brand.

 

There are several intellectual property and legal protections that social media influencers need to be aware of. This includes trademarks, copyrights, FTC requirements, and lots and lots of contracts. We know it can all be overwhelming, but our legal team will help you every step of the way. Mickey Law Group specializes in the copyright laws that protect your content, the trademarks you need to protect your social media handles, and the specific clauses you need in your influencer agreements.

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CALL US TODAY

 

Mickey Law Group knows how to make sure you are protected on all fronts when it comes to your personal brand IP assets. Attorney Kamisha Mickey takes time to understand you and your goals in order to craft a custom legal solution to secure your IP rights. Our IP practice often overlaps with our business offerings, allowing MLG to offer growth strategies and business protection services along with brand protection. Get ahead of the curve and contact Mickey Law Group to discuss building your brand and protecting your IP rights. We look forward to working with you!