I received a surprise call this morning from a sewing operation here in Seattle. I had called them several months ago when I was just starting to look into different manufacturers. I think they fell off my radar because they don’t sew leather, but 2 of my smaller products won’t use any leather so they might actually be able to assist me with production. I guess they are trying to drum up business, and digging pretty far back in their records because I called them in October. I am meeting with them on Monday to tour their factory and see what services they have to offer.
I also spoke to a trademark lawyer today (she may be reading this). It seems that the problem I encountered isn’t uncommon. We discussed my options, and I could either 1) contact Jones Apparel Group to request a consent agreement (which could be costly), or 2) I could just scrap everything and start from scratch on brand development (which is also costly, but probably less expensive than the other option). I’m leaning toward the re-branding effort. Luckily I’ve had some luck with brainstorming today: I may have a name that I like as much as Jones Market, I’ll need to run it by the lawyer to make sure it’s in the clear. I’m also going to hire my favorite copywriter to spend a few hours on this naming exercise. Once I get the list whittled down, I’ll get the legal folks’ input and get them to do my trademark paperwork.
I just spoke to by graphic designer and label person, and luckily they handled the news well. We’ll get cranking soon on the new branding and go from there. I learned a lot in the last 24 hours, and it wasn’t as hard to bounce back as I thought it would be. But TGIF 