Danny Bronski: an intellectual property attorney who knows business
OK, I admit it: I’m afraid of lawyers. Or was, until I sat down with Danny Bronski a few months ago, with a question that I suspect a lot of small business owners have on their minds at one time or another: Do I need a trademark for what I’m doing? Why? And if so, how do I do I go about getting it? And how much will it cost? I put off asking those questions for a long time, mainly because I was afraid the answer would boil down to “Yes. That’ll be $10,000, please.”
As it turns out, Danny has gone a long way toward answering many of those questions on his website, for free. On his site, www.VeriTrademark.com, he’s published a series of well-written articles on the subject of trademark law, with titles like Should You Trademark Your Business Logo? Why You Shouldn’t Hire A Patent Attorney For A Trademark Issue and Making Your Mark: Trademark Basics For Technology Entrepreneurs.
I’m glad we chose to ask Danny those questions sooner, rather than later. Because he helped us understand why the original name we had chosen for this business networking group, BizGroup, was not trademarkable because it was too generic (nevermind that it’s kinda boring). Not only did we get great legal advice, he also ended up giving us quite a few better name ideas to consider, as well. Regarding how much it cost, I’m not at liberty to disclose that information (can you tell I’m working with a lawyer now?) but I can tell you it was a lot less than $10,000. So, let’s see what kind of information Danny IS at liberty to discuss with us today…
Q: How did you end up practicing law in Seattle?
I’m grew up in Boston but always wanted to live in Seattle. Seattle is my favorite city in the world because of its natural beauty, its cultured, educated, literate and athletic population, and even (gasp!) the weather suits me. However, the best reason to live in Seattle is that the city attracts forward-thinking, entrepreneurial people; I want to make my living working with these people (and their businesses) to help move their ideas forward and refine my own forward-thinking tendencies in the process! So…after receiving my freshly minted law degree and MBA from Duke in 2002, I figured it was the perfect time to change locales, and that’s when I moved here. The alternative was making 200K (by now) working as a corporate lackey in NY, pushing paper for faceless corporations, making a tangible difference for nobody…which is my way of saying I am grateful every day that I had the guts to choose differently.
Q: What sparked your interest in trademark law?
Trademark lawyers should have a solid grasp of marketing and business strategy. However, most of the attorneys who practice in this area are patent attorneys (with technical backgrounds and technical mindsets) moonlighting as trademark attorneys. Ever see an engineer or scientist attempt marketing? The results aren’t pretty.
Since I have an MBA and a strong interest in and aptitude for marketing, trademark law was a perfect fit. Of course, I often undertake projects in related areas of the law; such as trade secrets, copyright, entertainment, technology licensing, negotiating deals and agreements, and employment law issues.
Q: You publish a lot of your thoughts on trademark law on your website, and more recently in your blog. Is that something many other lawyers do? Aren’t you worried about giving away information for free?
I personally believe that fewer lawyers should blog, and that most blogs are poorly conceived and a bad use of time and resources — if marketing is the goal. I write a blog mainly for the benefits of self-expression, not to reach potential clients (though I certainly don’t mind that result).
As far as giving away information for free…I want to be perceived as a trusted advisor, not a hired gun whom you pay a bunch of money to and get nebulous value for that money. Moreover, I believe that educating clients about trademark law (through articles and other means of giving away information) is beneficial to me because it actually helps people understand how valuable my expertise is, and how important it is to be thinking about trademarks. Unfortunately, trademark law is poorly understood by most businesses – even large businesses. By the time a conflict arises and parties go to court, a ton of resources are expended and everybody loses; my first goal is to prevent these conflicts through smart strategies to protect your intellectual property.
Q: How has technology such as the web, email and blogs affected your profession?
In my opinion, it has given (mostly younger) attorneys who can master these media a huge advantage over more established attorneys. Technology has created savvy, better educated clients, which hopefully pushes us professionals to step up our level of customer service. Unfortunately, most attorneys still haven’t gotten the memo on customer service…maybe because it came electronically! Sorry for the segue…just had to take a cheap shot at my profession!
Q: What’s the most common mistake that you see small business people making?
To be honest, I could write volumes on this topic, but I will stick to one thing. Small businesses are often afraid to spend money except reactively. This is a huge mistake. While small and new businesses are often cash-strapped, and strict adherence to the policy of “it takes money to make money” can bankrupt them, businesses should invest in technology and professional relationships (especially a good lawyer and accountant) to a greater extent than they do. Ask the question, “where can you outsource to gain expertise that actually adds value to your business?” A cleanly designed and well-written website is very important to almost any new business, and small businesses should almost always forsake advertising for PR and the development of key personal connections.
Q: How does business networking play at part in how you find new clients? What’s your take on the current business networking landscape? Do you see Biznik proving useful to you?
The most useful networking I do–by far–is face-to-face. Technology will never obviate the need to build strong, mutually beneficial, trusting relationships, and I never consider meeting someone for coffee to discuss our businesses a waste of time. Almost all existing networking groups range from stodgy to inefficient to kind of sleazy. This is why I love Biznik. I love the focus on community building that is lacking from almost all other networking organizations and I think Biznik is smart to target liberal-leaning independent proprietors. There really is nobody serving that niche in the burgeoning business networking industry. I am very happy to be involved with Biznik!
Danny’s website is www.VeriTrademark.com
His blog is www.veritrademarkzen.blogspot.com