Starter Resources (Texas)

Search For Companies By Name, Industry, Subject, or Location

Finding Info On A Texas Business (Secretary of State)
Includes records filed with the SOS relating to

Corporations
Limited Partnerships
Limited Liability Companies
Assumed Names
Trademarks
Registered Limited Liability Partnerships New
Foreign and State Financial Institutions New
Uniform Unincorporated Nonprofit Associations New
Probate Code filings by Foreign Corporate Fiduciaries New
UCC Financing Statements
Federal Liens

Toll-Free # Lookup For Businesses (See If they Have One)
Can also call 1-800-555-1212.

www.Switchboard.com

www.companiesonline.com

www.infospace.com

www.theultimates.com

Corporate Consumer Contacts (List Of Addresses & Links To Their Headquarters)
Must scroll down alphabetical list.

Information On US & International Companies
Find the company behind the brand name, where they're located, their financial info, their officers, subsidiaries, who they advertise with, what media they use, and more.

Thomas' Food Industry Register can tell a company's name, address and phone number, the products it produces and the government agencies that regulate both the products and the company itself.

U.S. Tax Court (1986-Present)
Persons involved in litigation with the IRS may be found here. If a case is found, the actual court file may contain tax returns or other important financial information.

Find The Company Behind Textile, Fur & Wool Products (RN Lookup)
A registered identification number or RN is a number issued by the Federal Trade Commission, upon request, to a business residing in the U.S. that is engaged in the manufacture, importing, distribution, or sale of textile, wool, or fur products. Such businesses are not required to have RNs. They may, however, use the RN in place of a name on the label or tag that is required to be affixed to these products.

Trademarks

General Info On Trademarks	International Trademarks
State Trademarks	Internet Domain Names
Federal Trademarks

General Information

Differences Between Patents, Trademarks & Copyrights
How to protect your name, invention or creative work.

Trademarks & Business Goodwill (SBA)

Protecting Your Intellectual Property (Consumer-SOS)
Get free email alerts of possible infringement so you can stop others from using your research, trademark or invention. The free tools below will send you an email alert or at least give you a one-stop link to check for updates.

Avoiding Patent, Trademark & Copyright Problems (SBA)
Learn how to avoid infringing the rights of others and the importance of protecting your own rights.

State

Please note that State trademarks offer nowhere near the same protection as Federally Registered Trademarks.

Search For State Trademarks Held By Others (All 50 States)
State trademarks are often found at your Secretary of State's Office. Usually this information can be found under "Trademarks" or "Trade names & Service marks."

State Trademark Forms (Texas)
Applications, changing ownership and more.

Trademark laws in 28 states (must scroll down)

Federal

Basic Facts About Federal Trademarks

Federal Trademarks-Frequently Asked Questions

Search For Federal Trademarks Held By Others

Search For Common Law Trademarks Within Domain Names
Search for word strings within a domain name. Domain Surfer provides results for registered domains in the .com, .net, and .org categories. It does not return results for domain with "on-hold" status.

International

Registering International Trademarks (Consumer-SOS)

Trademark Search In Other Countries
Search for and find out who own US, Canadian and European Trademarks.

Domain Names & Trademark Law (Nolo.com)
Here's what website builders need to know about trademark law.

Finding The Guy Who Owns That Domain Name.
To find the name and address of a domain name owner, you can use the WHOIS search service provided by NSI.

Simply enter the domain name and your search results will include a contact name, phone number, address and email address for the domain name's owner.

For More See The Internet/Domain Names

Trade Secrets

Protecting Your Trade Secrets (Nolo)

See Other Information

Patents

Differences Between Patents, Trademarks & Copyrights
How to protect your name, invention or creative work.

US Patent Database
Search for existing patents by the name of the owner, the patent number or patent description.

Patents And Your Rights (Nolo Articles)

Avoiding Patent, Trademark & Copyright Problems (SBA)
Learn how to avoid infringing the rights of others and the importance of protecting your own rights.

See Other Information

Copyrights

Differences Between Patents, Trademarks & Copyrights
How to protect your name, invention or creative work.

The US Copyright Office
Search for copyrights or file your own. Also has frequently asked questions about copyrights.

The Educator's Guide To Copyright & Fair Use

Avoiding Patent, Trademark & Copyright Problems (SBA)
Learn how to avoid infringing the rights of others and the importance of protecting your own rights.

See Other Information

Other

Insurance Resources For Small Businesses (Texas)
Resources for small employers including the law, FAQs and plenty of informational brochures and links.

Small Employers Health Insurance: Questions and Answers (Texas)

General Forms For All Occasions (The 'Lectric Law Library)
Scroll down their forms page for forms on general business matters, living wills, power of attorney, promissory notes, employment and contracting.

Small Business-Find Answers To Many Of Today's
Most Common Legal Problems
Learn about: Avoiding Litigation, Preventing Wrongful Discharge Suits, Financing a Business, Firing an Employee, Forming a Partnership or Corporation, Hiring an Employee, IRS Audits, Debt Collection, Starting a Business, Tax Returns and more.

Online Brochures On Over 100 Business Issues (SBA)

Other Intellectual Property Links (With Descriptions)

Find The SBA Office Nearest You (All 50 States & DC)

Find Your Secretary Of State (All 50 States)
Your Secretary Of State often has information on corporations & incorporating, state trademarks and licensing boards.

Brand Name Lookup (Ad Redbook Homepage)
At the mid-top of the page click on brand name lookup and find the company behind the product. Then call 1800-555-1212 for the company's toll free #.

Thomas' Food Industry Register can tell a company's name, address and phone number, the products it produces and the government agencies that regulate both the products and the company itself.

Information On US & International Companies
Find the company behind the brand name, where they're located, their financial info, their officers, subsidiaries, who they advertise with, what media they use, and more. Refers you to a library-May have to buy or reserve the book.

Insurance Resources For Small Businesses (Texas)
Resources for small employers including the law, FAQs and plenty of informational brochures and links.

Small Employers Health Insurance: Questions and Answers (Texas)

For More Resources & Great Tips, Check Out Nolo.com

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How to Spot Potential Infringers of Your Trademark, Copyright or Patent
Get immediate updates whenever there's new infringement. These free alerts may indicate if your work has been copied, or if someone is infringing on your trademark or patent. Also track the changes made to your competitor’s website, or see if a competing trademark application is now ripe for opposition.

To Protect Your IP, Learn How To:

Find Out if Your Work Has Been Copied (One stop link to check periodically)
Monitor For Potential Trademark Infringement
Monitor For Potential Patent Infringement
Track Changes Made To Your Competitor's Website-Past, Present & Future (Also get free alerts showing the exact changes, cross outs, additions, etc.)
Get Alerts if Your Trademark or Key Words Appear in Google, Facebook, or on Your Competitor's Website (Free)
Track The Buying, Selling or Transfer of Domain Names Similar To Your Trademark (Free Email Alerts)
Track Existing TM Filings To See If They've Been Approved or Rejected (Free Email Alerts)

Get Free Updates On New Patent Filings from Your Client, Competitor or Company Employees (Free Email Alerts)

How To Find Out If Your Work Has Been Copied

Find websites which may be copying your content (Mostly Free) and warn them to remove it. Then track changes on their websites to see if they complied.

You may also need to demonstrate that you were the first to create, use or invent your IP. Use The Wayback Machine to track changes made to your competitor's website and show they copied from you and not the reverse. You can also discover exactly when their website was created by doing a WHOIS lookup on their web address. For example: you can show their website was from 1999 and your copyright was from 1994. WHOIS will also often provide the information you need to reach the website owner or administrator.

To background a potential infringer or find their contact information, click here.

Free Links That Detect Online Copying

Copyscape
Enter in each page of the website that you want to monitor for copying. Site will return the top ten websites that have the exact same content along with a percentage of what could have been copied. If no matches are found, all the better.

Other Sites To Detect Copying

Anti-Plagiarism Software Pros and Cons

Back To Spotting Potential Infringers of Your IP

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How To Monitor For Potential Trademark Infringement

To find people who may be using the same or confusingly similar trademark, set up free email alerts to see if others are using the same or similar brand name. Obviously you'll want to warn them of possible infringement. Once you find the offending website, you can monitor their compliance to your take down request by tracking if they've made the necessary changes. An email alert will be sent to you whenever they alter their webpage. If you get no email alerts, it means they’re obviously not listening. At that point it may be time to send a harsh follow up letter.

Also, you'll want to monitor domain names and get free email alerts on the buying, selling or transfer of domain names similar to your trademark. Domain names are not trademarks in themselves. However, domain names can infringe trademarks whenever such are used to identify someone's goods or services. If you find a website under construction with a similar domain name, you’ll definitely want to monitor it, to see if later it's being used as a trademark.

Once you find a term similar or identical to your trademark, search to see if someone has filed a federal trademark application at the USPTO. If you find they've filed for a federal trademark, write down the serial number and then track the filing to see if it's been approved or rejected (Free Email Alerts based on TM serial #). If you get an email alert that the trademark is ready to be approved, you'll have 30 days or less to oppose the registration.

To background a potential infringer or find their contact information, click here.

Back To Spotting Potential Infringers of Your IP

Get Free Email Alerts if Key Words Appear in Google, on Facebook, or on Your Competitor's Website

With Google Alerts, new online activities will be sent to you in an email. Just set up an alert with the client’s name, or a few key words, or the name of their website. (For common names you may have to refine your alert so you don’t get flooded with emails.)

For example: Say your competitor owned the website www.webmd.com. If you made a Google Alert with www.webmd.com Actos, you should get an alert whenever WebMD adds a new section or article on Actos. You can also make an email alert with your subject’s first and last name to receive alerts whenever Google finds their name in new blogs, news articles, Facebook or other websites.

For more on using Google Alerts, click here. Also, be sure to make some test alerts so you can refine what you’re looking for. For example: try using your own name, or the name of your company with a few key terms likely to trigger an alert. Then when you change your website, see what alert you get, if any.

Back To Spotting Potential Infringers of Your IP

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Get Free Email Alerts on The Buying, Selling or Transfer of Domain Names Similar To Your Trademark

Whether you want to buy the name yourself or monitor if someone else is using your trademark, this site can help you discover if a domain has been bought or sold, is about to expire, and who it now belongs to. (Also good to keep track of when your own domain names need to be renewed.)

Domain Monitor Free Sign In Page To Monitor up to 100 Domain Names
Domain Monitor lets you keep a watchful eye on your domains...or anyone else's. Expiration dates, status changes—just enter the domain names you want to monitor and they’ll notify you about crucial changes to any domain name's Whois record on an ongoing basis.

Back To Spotting Potential Infringers of Your IP

Email Alerts on USPTO Filings
Want to be immediately notified when a trademark filing of your competitor has been approved or rejected? This site tracks pending trademarks (your own or others) by TM serial #. Just sign up at this free account and create an alert. (go to case tracking tab, and add a new case, and then enter in trademark serial number that you got on USPTO.gov)

Back To Spotting Potential Infringers of Your IP

How To Monitor For Potential Patent Infringement

Google Alerts work better for trademarks than for patents. However, you can sign up for free email alerts to see if terms describing your patent or patented process appear in Google or on your competitor's website.

If you find a website that seems to be infringing, you can track changes to this website from the past to the present and receive alerts if future changes are made to it. You can also get free updates on new patent filings from your client, competitor or company employees.

To background a potential infringer or find their contact information, click here.

Back To Spotting Potential Infringers of Your IP

Get Free Updates On New Patent Filings from Your Client, Competitor or Company Employees (Free Email Alerts)

Fresh Patents
Just register for their free sign up, and choose a few key words such as your inventor’s name, and maybe part of their address if it’s a common name. Fresh Patent will then send you weekly RSS feeds to keep you updated.

Other Free Patent Alert Services

Back To Spotting Potential Infringers of Your IP

Tracking When A Website Changes: The Past, The Present And The Future
Knowing what a defendant’s website looks like, past, present and future can be useful to show the company knew of the incident, acted in bad faith or never acted at all. Changes could also show the defendant had knowledge of the patent, or that their idea, invention or policy, spontaneously developed from nowhere, or was the result of a number of iterations.

For The Present Version of a Website

Simply go to the website and print each page into a PDF. Then save it to your hard drive. pdf 995 is a free program that allows you to convert web pages and other documents to a pdf file.

For Older Versions of a Website

Use The Way Back Machine to see how the site looked at a specific date or how it developed over the years; or search for the website on Google or Yahoo and then use the Google/Yahoo cache function to see how the site looked just a few months/weeks ago.

To Get New Versions of A Website You Are Tracking (receive emails showing the exact changes, cross outs, additions, etc.)

Sign up for changedetection.com. It’s free and you can list multiple links and map out a whole website to see if anything was added or removed. You can also detect changes by making Google Alerts to learn if your target website is adding new terms or new products, etc. For example: If you made a Google Alert with www.webmd.com cancer, you should receive an alert whenever WebMD adds a new section or article on cancer.

For more on using Google Alerts, click H ere.

Back To Spotting Potential Infringers of Your IP

Worldwide Trademark Protection

To get world wide trademark protection in over 80 countries, you'll want to take advantage of the two major treaties on trademarks. By doing so you can secure your trademarks through registration in two nations instead of eighty.

The first major treaty is called the Madrid System of International Registration, and it involves almost 70 countries. The Second and far smaller treaty is for TM protection throughout the European Union.

Madrid is governed by The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). TM protection within the EU is governed by The Office for the Harmonization of the Internal Market (OHIM).

Please note there is substantial overlap between Madrid and OHIM, especially for those countries within the European Union. You will need a lawyer to decide which one is best for you.

There may of course be other treaties for nations outside of Madrid or OHIM. One example of such is the Paris Convention. But if you can't find a treaty for the countries you're applying for, your only option is to file separate applications with each of these respective countries.

And if you're filing with a non-treaty nation, it is likely you will be required to use one of their own lawyers and file the application in their native language.

EUROPEAN UNION TRADEMARK INFORMATION (OHIM)

For an overview check out www.hg.org/1413.html
and www.slw.dk/english/european.htm

FOR INFORMATION ON THE WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORG (WIPO)and the Madrid Union

List Of Madrid Member Nations

Fees For Filing Under Madrid

General Information On Madrid

www.wipo.int/madrid/en/index.html

www.wipo.int/eng/newindex/madrid.htm

Trademark Protection In Other Countries Not Listed Above

Trademark Law In Countries Not In Madrid or OHIM

For Existing International Trademark Treaties including the Paris convention

For Actual Members of the Paris Convention
Patience. The long downloading time is worth the wait!

International Treaties to Protect Patents & Trademarks

Resources

The U.S. Small Business Administration (404)529-9865
or (404)529-9808
Their service core of retired executives gives valuable free advice and referrals. Learn how to incorporate, obtain a loan, make effective business proposals, presentations and where and how to advertise. The U.S. Small Business Administration also offers low cost seminars for those who need more information on these subjects.

E-LOAN
Licensed in at least 40 states, E-LOAN allows consumers to apply for a a small business loan via e-mail. On this site, consumers can search for the best rates on everything from mortgages to credit cards to home equity loans. It costs nothing to apply for a loan and your application will get a response within 24 to 48 hours.

The Federal Information Center (800) 688-9889 or (800) 388-2222
Call this agency for information about any federal program. They will also direct you to the appropriate federal help agency. i.e. for problems concerning discrimination, disability, taxes, etc.

The Consumer Information Center (800) 664-4435 Check out their free consumer publications. Get Their free book with important federal, state and non-profit help agencies. They also have a consumer help line open between 10 am. and 2 pm., Eastern Standard Time.

The Federal Web Locator
Through this web site, cyberconsumers can link to the electronic doorsteps of federal departments, agencies, commissions and quasi official agencies.

The Aspen Institute (202) 736-5800
This non-profit group lists 328 microenterprise programs that extend small loans to help businesses get started. Their directory of Micro Enterprise programs costs $15.

The Council On Foundations (202) 466-6512 Provides contact numbers for local foundations.

Foundation Center (800) 424-9836
The Foundation Center can direct you free of charge, to the organizations most likely to give grants to your cause. Their directories will help you locate grant makers by subject, geographic area and a variety of other factors.

The Foundation Center will answer quick reference question over the phone, but it won't do your research for you. It's up to you to make your own personal list of potential donors based on what you find in their library. The Foundation Center also has information on how to set up and manage foundations and other types of non-profit organizations.

Guidestar (800) 421-8656 or (800) 424-9836 Guidestar gathers and disseminates information on over six hundred thousand 501(C)(3) organizations. Guidestar's extensive database classifies each organization by subject and can find donor organizations willing to assist you.

For information on Small Business Investment Companies which provide equity-capital, long term loans, debt equity investments and management assistance to small business, write to:

Investment Division
U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 Third St., SW

Washington, DC 20416 or check out www.sba.gov/inv
on the Internet.

Free Money To Change Your Life, by Matthew Lesko
This book lists 15,000 federal and state programs that provide free money to help people look for work or start businesses.

For other agencies outside of your city, consult your Business White pages and U.S. Government section.

Business Incubators (Business Development Centers)

Incubators Throughout The 50 States (Most States)
Incubators are shelters for start-up companies and expansion-minded small firms, which can get technical advice and a place to grow at cheaper costs.

National Business Incubation Association
Look up their member incubator centers throughout the nation.

Incubators For Women Who Are Starting A Business
Go to The U.S. Small Business Administration Web site and "click" on "New Women Centers."