(In much of the publishing, business, and corporate world, things just flat out shut down between Christmas and New Year’s. As in, offices-closed-doors-locked. As a blogger and potential social media maven, you could try to take advantage of the lull and blog to help fill this void. Assuming you can find something worthwhile to talk about.)

Anyway, in that spirit, here are my picks for 5 of my favorite entries from this here Solutions Are Power blog from the year 2008 (this is an expanded version of the list that you’ll hear in the Solutions Out Loud podcast — subscribe now!)

(In the interest of modesty, I will omit my own entries from consideration.)

1.) Legal Considerations for the Small Business — By way of Shashi, this entry comes from Statton Hammock, Director, Legal and Business Affairs at Network Solutions, and it covers in broad strokes six steps you’ll need to cover as you work to create an online business.

While this topic is obviously huge (check out the Small Business Administration, your state’s business development department, and local resources like your Chamber of Commerce for more help), it’s a great primer, and I found it to be very informative.

2.) The coverage of the Blog Potomac conference was excellent; if I had to pick one entry, it’s the interview with Lionel Menchaca, of Direct2Dell. It’s always gratifying to see how a big company is working to use social media tools to really listen to customers (especially after they’d taken their lumps for not doing this, previously).

3.) 8 Tips to Protect Your Domain Registration, not so much for the actual content, as to see it in the larger context of Network Solutions’ response to a domain hijacking dustup this spring. It also demonstrates how being un-self-conscious (like providing tips that apply no matter who your domain registrar is) is genuinely helpful.

4.) 10 Reasons to Use Facebook for Business – Coming from Mari Smith, here’s another primer, this one for conveying the benefits of using Facebook to business owners. It really helps focus the issue, especially at a time where some business owners may be flailing around, hearing they have to do something with this Facebook thing, but not sure how or why. Simple, effective, to the point.

5.) Trademarks 101– Another entry with suggestions on how to deal in the legal realm, specifically, trademark issues. I wasn’t able to attend this event, so the event summary done up by Steve was very helpful. (Also, as you can tell, legal-ish things aren’t my strong suit.)

Perhaps it’s obvious, but my strategy for picking the best entries of the blog for 2008 was the same strategy I use when I buy gifts for people — I find the things that I want for myself. If you’ve got your own favorite entries from 2008, feel free to share in the comments.

Here are some highlights that I took away from it that would impact small businesses:

Trademarks are an important business asset

Businesses rely on their trademarks to identify their products or services and to distinguish them from their competitors. Trademarks must be protected or they may be lost. The loss of a trademark denies consumers the opportunity to identify preferred brands and destroys the owner’s investment in its asset. Generic terms are NOT trademarkable so you should avoid them.

Do a search first. It will save you a lot of time and money in the future.

Do what is called a “Clearance Search”. First is a “knock-out” search that can get the major flags out of the way. You can do this yourself on the USPTO.gov site and it will save you money before you get a lawyer and until you get the name you can use or think you can use. Also as a part of the “knock-out” search you should also check the proposed name and the results that come up in various search engines when you search on that name.  After that is when a comprehensive search comes into play.  A comprehensive search looks at word combinations, industry use or types of otherusage. It involves lots of different databases and reduces the chances of overlooking a problematic mark that could cost you in the future. You should really look at getting a lawyer at this stage. A small amount spent now will save you potentially from spending a fortune down the road.

Someone may be using a similar mark for similar goods and services. It is important to articulate what you will use the mark for, how long it will live and its importance overall in your company.

Trademarks are just a U.S. thing

Most people when thinking of trademarks think of just their home country. Here in the United States, the process is very straightforward. Trademarks are geographic in their scope and you file under being “use-based” which is for trademarks used in interstate commence OR file with “intent-to-use” which allows time for market research, product development and regulatory clearance. The latter gives you in many instances three years to file evidence of use of the mark.

Going international is a whole different ballgame. In many places, it is the same as the United States where they look for use of the mark and may provide common law protection. Other places are a bit different where there is no use required and the “first to file”, wins. You really need a lawyer for this one and because it might require engaging firms in other countries it can get really expensive but it could be a wise investment in money if you are selling interntaionally or want to do so in the future. If yours is a global brand that is growing, you need to protect it around the world.

Just cause you filed doesn’t mean you are done

Trademarks must be protected and nurtured like any other property your business manages or owns. Proper use on all business documents, advertising, displays, packaging and labels is critical. Don’t forget to use the trademark notices on your stuff, report infringement of it to your lawyers, don’t permit modification of the mark and make sure you have a licensing agreement if someone else wants to use it.

If you want to know more…

Ballard Spahr gave a great presentation and the powerpoint has a lot more detail on specific trademarking issues and excellent examples to make their point. If you want a copy, please shoot an e-mail to Brian Winterfeldt at bjw@ballardspahr.com referencing the Trademark 101 event and Network Solutions. Plus, if you are looking for further consultation regarding a trademarking issue, Ballard Spahr is a great firm and they really know their stuff. They would love to hear from you and don’t forget to mention that you heard about this from us!  We also will likely be doing a follow-up presentation in the near-future so stay tuned.  Also thanks to Linda Larsen from our Legal Department for coordinating this event with Ballard Spahr.  If any of our readers think of other topical presentations that they think would be useful, please send us an email and we will try to set up another Networking Event!  Thanks to all that made it out.