Mortimer Legal, PLLC
A TRADEMARK LAW PRACTICE
(516) 874-7616
Your brand is a valuable asset.
Protect it.
Who We Are
Mortimer Legal, PLLC is an intellectual property law firm that advocates for protecting the most valuable asset of entrepreneurs, business owners, authors, illustrators, and other creatives, nationwide... their BRAND.
With flat fee pricing and an honest, upfront approach, we won't only protect what's yours through trademark registration, enforcement and maintenance, we'll create a strategy to distinguish your brand in your market.
Services
Trademark Search & Registration
Trademark search and clearance, application preparation and filing services are available at various package rates depending upon your particular needs. A complete nationwide, state and common law search (including web and social media) will be conducted to determine the likelihood that an application for your mark will succeed and proceed to registration. Any problematic marks will be identified, and a recommended filing strategy will be developed in order to prepare a trademark application with the greatest likelihood of proceeding to registration.
We prepare and file U.S. trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for applicants located across the United States and foreign applicants seeking U.S. registration of their mark.
Trademark Monitoring, Enforcement and Maintenance
You've successfully registered your trademark, now what? We can provide yearly monitoring of your mark that covers the USPTO, state and other common law databases. Our mission is to continuously search and identify applications, uses or confusingly similar brands that infringe or pose a risk of infringement of your registered mark. Any conflict will be handled appropriately by either opposing an application or sending a cease and desist letter.
Keeping track of trademark renewal deadlines can be cumbersome. Let us handle all your maintenance filings, so that you can feel confident that your trademark is continuously protected.
Brand Consultation
Just starting out? Have an idea for a brand name or logo, but you're not sure if it's the best image for your business or if it's possibly infringing on an already existing brand? Let's discuss your image, brand strategy and intended use. Before you register your business name, purchase that domain or preserve that social media handle, let us do a comprehensive search of the brand to make sure it's free and clear for use in the marketplace. Taking this first step, could save you time, money and the headache of rebranding your business if your business name or logo infringes on another's rights.
This is a general list of services, Schedule FREE Discovery Call to learn more about our services or Book a Legal Consultation to discuss whether we can help you with your particular intellectual property needs.
About
Attorney, Deborah C. Mortimer
Education
New York Law School, 2005
Bar Admissions
New York & New Jersey
As the Principal Attorney at Mortimer Legal, PLLC, Deborah C. Mortimer is a legal expert in intellectual property law, blending an eclectic background of legal expertise in trademark and copyright services with a background in writing and publishing. She’s been there before from both sides of the fence—and she knows what her clients need.
For Deborah, it all starts with a simple concept: integrity. Clients experience her strong work ethic in every aspect of the attorney-client relationship: detailed, transparent communication and direct, honest management of expectations. Her keen, creative, and persuasive legal writing skills pair well with her concept of working with clients as a team. On this team, consider her your most persistent advocate, and chief negotiator.
Now, Deborah brings her background as a litigator and legal writer/editor to the world of intellectual property. Mostly dealing with trademark and copyright registration, enforcement, and maintenance, Deborah brings the same habits that brought her clients success: organization, due diligence, and a tough-minded approach to offering the best possible representation.
Deborah is also an author and owner of a publishing imprint that develops and promotes books with a focus on diversity, inclusion, and representation. Additionally, she coaches aspiring authors looking to publish books under their own imprint. This combination of legal and boots-on-the-ground experience makes her the ideal teammate for anyone who wants to protect their brand and ideas with nationwide trademark and copyright registration along with well-written agreements. She’s built brands herself, and she knows what it takes to protect those brands over the long haul.
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"I don't live in NY or NJ, can you still take on my legal matter?"The short answer is YES. Intellectual property law is governed by federal law. That means that we can accept trademark and copyright clients nationwide. We can also, accept foreign clients looking to file a US trademark.
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How long does it take to process a trademark application?From the moment you sign your engagement letter and make your payment, we onboard you as a client and begin working on your matter. You can expect to receive the results of the comprehensive search of your mark within 8-10 business days (Expedited service is availaible for an additional fee). Once we have reviewed the results of the search and provided an attorney opinion letter, your application will be prepared and filed pending your approval and signature. The rest is up to the USPTO and the current time frame it takes for your application to be assigned to an Examiner and reviewed. This can vary between 2.5 and 7.5 months. You can find the current processing times for a first application here.
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What if I want to skip the comprehensive search and just file my trademark application?A comprehensive search of your mark is not required by the UPSTO to file a trademark application. However, while it is definitely cheaper to skip the search, it is strongly advised that a clearance search of your brand be performed covering national, state and common law databases. Mortimer Legal, PLLC can perform this search for you and provide you with a deep analysis of the findings so that you are aware of all the risks and possible pitfals you may face in the application process. Without this essential search, your trademark application could, quite possibly, be doomed from the start.
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But I already did my own USPTO trademark search and didn't find my mark, isn't that enough?"No it isn't. The USPTO Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) is used to search trademarks that have already been registered or applied for. While it also claims to search marks that are similar to your mark, this is in no way exact, and it can miss a lot of marks that can prove problematic to your application. Take for example this scenario: You have a coffee shop brand that you'd like to trademark: Starbuckss. Your TESS results come back "No TESS records were found to match the criteria of your query." This result may indicate that it's safe to apply for trademark registration for "Starbuckss". It's not. You'd find the coffee giant, Starbucks, quickly quashing your application for being confusingly similar. Additionally, TESS does not perform a complete search of state and common law datatbases as well. To give your trademark application the best possible chance of success, a comprehensive clearance search by an attorney should be performed.
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I already have a registered trademark, why would I need your services?So you have a registered trademark, but the work to protect your brand isn't over. It is crucial that renewal and maintenance documents are filed during years 5 and 6 after registration, 9 and 10 and every 10 years thereafter. If these documents which include proof of use are not filed, your registration is in jeopardy of being cancelled. If this is done your trademark may be fair game for someone else to register. Also, a part of having a registered trademark is making sure that no one is infringing on your brand. Let us monitor your registered trademark so that we can be on the look out for those who may be using your brand or something similar to it.
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Do you offer a payment plan?Mortimer Legal is proud to partner with LawPay and Affirm, two of the leaders in legal online payment and “Buy Now, Pay Later” platforms. ClientCredit is a legal financing program that allows clients like you to get the full legal services you need now, but with the ability to structure your payments over time. Anywhere from 3, 6, 9, 12 to 24 months! Through this partnership, we are happy to be able to make law accessible and affordable to our clients. Learn more about ClientCredit Frequently Asked Questions here, or ask about ClientCredit during a discovery call or consultation.
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How long is trademark registration good for?Once your trademark is registered, maintenance of your registration is a crucial part of protecting your brand. After registration, you can choose to have us inform you of renewal dates, which initially occur after 5 years, and monitor your mark to ensure that no one is attempting to use it or something confusingly similar.
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How long does a copyright last?The term of copyright for a particular work depends on several factors, including whether it has been published, and, if so, the date of first publication. As a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years.
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Do you handle litigation matters?No. We handle trademark and copyright registration, enforcement and maintenance. Should you have a legal matter (including trademark and copyright) that goes beyond negotiation and settlement, it will be referred to a litigation attorney in your state.
TESTIMONIALS
IN THE MEDIA
Co-written with award winning author, Carol Van Den Henke, this article with DIY MFA offers an introduction to trademark law for authors as another way to protect their work and ideas.
