[00:00:02] Speaker A: Ramping up your business. The time is near. You've given it hard. Now get it in gear.
It's Passage to Profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart.
[00:00:12] Speaker B: I'm Richard Gearhart, founder of Gearhart Law, a full service intellectual property law firm specializing in patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
[00:00:20] Speaker C: And I'm Elizabeth Gearhart, not an attorney, but I do marketing for Gearhart Law. And I just opened my podcast studio.
[00:00:27] Speaker B: Welcome to Passage to Profit, the road.
[00:00:29] Speaker D: To entrepreneurship, where we talk with business owners and celebrities about their business stories. Now it is time to move to intellectual property news. My favorite segment for sure, we're going to be talking about trademarks. We never mix passage to profit and religion, but today is an exception. There's a new Pope. I'm not Catholic, but I am from Chicago, just like the new Pope is. So we're solid there. We have Pope Leo. And as soon as that happened, of course, the capitalists came out of the woodwork and decided to start filing trademark applications on the Pope. Right.
[00:01:05] Speaker C: So the Bears.
[00:01:06] Speaker D: The Pope.
Well, yeah, obviously. I mean, remember Saturday Night Live was a big hit and they had a skit about the Bears, and it sort of became the sound of Chicago. So anytime anybody thinks of Chicago, they think of the Bears. The Bears, or dub pizza or whatever. So now it's the Pope. And. And so people have been filing trademark applications, mostly for apparel, to protect their interest in this. The funny thing is that I'm not really sure any of those applications will be granted because in order to trademark the name of somebody not yourself, you have to get written consent. I'm not seeing Dao, but that's not his name giving written consent.
[00:01:51] Speaker C: That's not actually his name. His name is Pope Leo.
[00:01:54] Speaker D: Well, and see, therein lies the interesting twist in this, because if it can be directed to a person, even if it's not that person's name, it can be associated with them, then you still need to get that consent.
[00:02:08] Speaker C: I think he'll give us.
[00:02:09] Speaker D: That's a good argument. I mean, I think that if people are serious about this, they should make that. Because it's not a person's name, it's a title.
[00:02:16] Speaker C: But don't you think that he'd give his consent anyways because it's said with affection and it's good branding. Right, Right.
[00:02:23] Speaker D: I know the Pope's got nothing else to do than sign consent letters for people he doesn't know in the US to get trademark applications granted, he has.
[00:02:32] Speaker C: An assistant do it, one of those altar boys.
[00:02:35] Speaker D: But, you know, you could go to his brothers, one of his brothers, and maybe ask them, you know, I don't know.
[00:02:40] Speaker C: Famous too.
[00:02:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:42] Speaker D: So that's the situation. I'm going to put this to the panel. Rick, what are your thoughts on this?
[00:02:47] Speaker E: I love the fact that people are being creative and it's really what our capitalist economy is built on.
[00:02:52] Speaker D: David and Monica, what are your thoughts going into this?
[00:02:55] Speaker F: I say I love it.
[00:02:57] Speaker D: It's the hustle utilizing his image in the logo or design. I mean, I think that takes it to the next level.
[00:03:03] Speaker F: You got to have that hustle. So why not? Why not?
[00:03:05] Speaker D: Jed, so you're the branding expert. Do you think this was like a well thought out branding strategy like you advocate?
[00:03:12] Speaker E: Probably not, but it's opportunistic and there's a first movers advantage. If the Pope wanted to lean into this, I think it would make him even more effective and beloved by more people.
[00:03:21] Speaker C: We'll see what happens. I guess it is pretty funny.
[00:03:25] Speaker D: And if you have a trademark that you want to protect, Gerhart Law works with entrepreneurs worldwide to help them protect their brands and their technology through patents. You can go to our website, learn more about Patents.com or learn more about Trademarks.com and download a free white paper that explains the patent and trademark process. Or you can book a consultation with a Gearhart Law attorney.
[00:03:52] Speaker B: Passage to Profit is a nationally syndicated radio show appearing in 38 markets across the United States. In addition, Passage to Profit has also been recently selected by Feedspot Podcasters Database as a top 10 entrepreneur interview podcast. Thank you to the P2P team, our producer, Noah Fleishman and our program coordinator, Alicia Morrissey, and our studio assistant, Risa Kat Bussari. Look for our podcast tomorrow anywhere you get your podcasts. Our podcast is ranked in the top 3% global globally. You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram X and on our YouTube channel. And remember, while the information on this program is believed to be correct, never take a legal step without checking with your legal professional first.
[00:04:38] Speaker D: Gearhart Law is here for your patent, trademark and copyright needs. You can find
[email protected] and contact us for a free consultation.
[00:04:46] Speaker B: Take care everybody. Thanks for listening and we'll be back next week.
