Starting a Business in Florida

Visit the Department of State's Starting a Business page. The Small Business Development Center is also a great resource.

1) Write a business plan

Here are a couple of posts I've devoted to this subject - Business Plans: A Quick Guide and Piecing Together the Business Plan.

The Small Business Administration has a handy page about writing a business plan.

2) Decide on a location

Sunbiz.org has a page devoted to selecting a location with handy links about demographics and economy.

3) Choose a business structure

First, read this great article on how to choose your business structure - click here to read PowerHomeBiz's Choosing Your Legal Structure.

Once you've done that go to the Division of Corporations site, which is where you can search and file corporations, LLCs, LLPs, fictitious names, etc.

4) Taxes

Read the Start-Up Kit for New Business Owners.

5) Licenses & Permits

Business license information can be found here.

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It's Graph Time Again!

As promised in this post, I'm revisiting the USPTO's Performance & Accountability Report.

I decided to take a look at the highest number of applications filed based on state residency. Here are the top 6 out of the 310,296 applications filed by residents of the US:

Now let's take a look at these same states to see how many made it to registration. This represents a portion of the 122,266 applications registered to residents of the US. Of course, there's going to be some rollover from those filed in 2006/registered in 2007 and those filed in 2007/registered in 2008 but this gives a pretty fair snapshot:

It still boggles my mind that such a large number of trademark applications are filed that NEVER make it to registration. This is why we always stress to our clients to stay on top of their trademark filings. The USPTO will not keep watch of your trademark; that's your responsibility. Also ensuring that the name is available in the first place will get you past the dreaded refusal Office Action.

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TradeMark Express Value Package

We've added a new option when it comes to getting your trademark. TradeMark Express will search your mark in the pending & registered Federal and State trademark files AND in the US National Common-Law files. Based on your approval, we will then prepare AND file your US Federal trademark application - all for one fee of $399. Order this package today!

HOW IT WORKS:

1) US Federal & State trademark research - TradeMark Express will search the pending AND registered Federal AND State trademark files in accordance with the USPTO's policy, namely looking for similarities in Sound, Appearance or Meaning. This involves searching synonyms, spelling variations, word placement, etc.

2) US National Common-Law research - TradeMark Express will search for commercial availability of the mark in numerous files. Businesses have "first use" or Common-Law rights to their trade names in whatever geographic trade area they serve. The US National Common-Law research will help you to determine if you face any trade restrictions.

Once both searches are completed, the entire report will be emailed to you. At this point, you'll need to read through the entire report to look for any conflicts or similarities.

Should any conflicts or similarities arise, you will need to discuss them with a trademark attorney. To upgrade this package, simply contact any of our offices and for an additional $101, TradeMark Express will analyze both searches and you'll be provided with a trademark attorney (nominal fee for West Coast attorney) to discuss the results.

TradeMark Express will also email you our Worksheet with the above research. Once you're ready for us to prepare & submit your Federal trademark application, complete the worksheet and send to our Arcata office. Once received, we will then prepare and submit your Federal trademark application.

The USPTO charges a fee of $325 per class, which is separate from TradeMark Express' fees.