About trademark/copyright names? -

i want to start a clothing line in the near future and i wanted to call it controversy apparel, i have searched and have noticed there is a clothing line type business called controversy sells, can i legally still use controversy apparel?

Determining if marks infringe can be tricky and each situation varies from another.The general rules to keep in mind are:1) Are the names similar in Sound, Appearance or Meaning?2) Are the industries the same or similar to one another?3) Are the names confusingly similar to the average consumer? In other words, could customers be confused and assume that both companies are affiliated?4) Do the trade areas cross? What about the advertising routes -- are the products/services advertised in common places?Here s what the USPTO has to say about this matter: The principal factors considered by the examining attorney in determining whether there would be a likelihood of confusion are:the similarity of the marks; and the commercial relationship between the goods and/or services listed in the application. To find a conflict, the marks do not have to be identical, and the goods and/or services do not have to be the same. It may be enough that the marks are similar and the goods and/or services related. It s best to contact a private search company or a trademark attorney to assist you in determining if this will be a problem or not.Hope that helps! I wish you much success happiness in all your ventures!

Is it possible to start a restaurant with no experience? -

I have what I think is a great idea -- a restaurant that specializes in salads to cater to the lunch crowd. I d love to open a restaurant, but I have no experience outside of a fast food job I got fired from. Is it possible to start a successful restaurant with no experience, or is this just a pipe dream?

It s possible to do anything, if you invest your time in it. To understand some of the permits and licenses you ll need alongside with federal requirements, check out the link provided. Since each state is different, it would be best to contact your state to see what you ll need to clear your business for launch.The next part is to get your business started, which costs money. If you think about it, you ll have to buy or rent the building your business will operate out of, provide all of the things needed in a salad bar (tables, seats, chillers, etc...), along with paying taxes, employee salary, and purchasing the food from some sort of vendor. It s a long laundry list of stuff, but you can see that to make money, you must first spend that money.How you go about getting that money to start up is usually done in two ways; either through an Investor(s) or through a loan. An investor is someone that is going to invest money in you to get your business set up and running. This can be a family member, friend, or even a private investor. The other way is through a loan, which you ll be responsible for paying back over time, just like college loans or credit cards.If you happen to get the money to start up your business, and you ve cleared everything with the state and the government, you re pretty much set. Again, you ll need to purchase or rent available space to have a building to operate out of and purchase all of the things to put into this building which will be your salad bar. You ll obviously need to hire employees and create a staff to operate and maintain your business. Also, you ll probably want to have somebody to cover you legally and someone to help you keep up on your taxes, finances, spending, earnings, etc...Most small businesses fail within the first year. I don t say this to scare you but more to encourage and enlighten you. Don t be afraid to try something, even if others don t understand it.Starting up a small business can be fun but you also should do some research to find out more about the industry you re getting into. You don t have to have experience to do any of this, but it generally might help if you had some unique and interesting ideas, especially when you re proposing your business idea to a potential investor.This isn t everything of course, there are plenty of other things that didn t get covered here. I would suggest you do more research on it yourself, so you learn at your own pace. I hope this helped, remember to check out the link below.Remember, if you really put the time and effort into this, it s possible. Best of luck.

Yes, it is possible to start a successful restaurant with little to no experience. You probably have a good bit of experience in what NOT to do based on your fast food experience. The key is to make up for your missing experience in research and planning. With this type of restaurant, you will definitely need to hire a staff, so you should plan to hire as your kitchen manager or chef someone with experience in a similar type of restaurant (such as Sweet Tomatoes or Souper Salad). Contact your county extension service -- in many areas they provide food service training. Another great ressource is Business Startup and Growth Magazine (see below).

Everyone needs to start somewhere ok. But I would suggest to get a job in a restaurant or anything something like that to gain some inside knowledge about the bussiness. You really need to read and research a lot to to familiarize yourself with the ins and out and other tricky things that go along in having that kind of bussiness. Never never embarked yourself in a bussiness without doing all this things.

Possible but a really really really bad idea unless you know what you re doing.