UTILITY LLC
What’s your use?
Your brand is one of your most valuable business assets. Protecting it starts with securing the trademark rights that distinguish your business in the marketplace.
Trademark rights are established through use in commerce, and UTILITY LLC helps businesses identify, protect, and enforce the trademarks that define, strengthen, and add value to their brands.
Trademark Law, Chicago
OUR SERVICES
At UTILITY LLC, we provide the following legal services.
Trademark Research & Clearance
Know Before You Launch. Before investing in a brand, understand the potential risks. We conduct preliminary and comprehensive trademark searches to help clients evaluate the availability of proposed names, logos, and other trademarks and identify potential conflicts before moving forward.
Services include:
- Preliminary trademark searches
- Comprehensive trademark searches
- Trademark availability assessments
Trademark Registration
Protect the Brands You Build. A strong brand deserves thoughtful legal protection. We prepare and file federal trademark applications to help clients secure registration for their brands.
Services include:
- Trademark application preparation
- Federal trademark application filing
- Guidance on trademark identification and classification
Trademark Prosecution & Application Support
Navigate the Registration Process with Confidence.
The trademark application process can present legal and procedural challenges. We assist clients in responding to USPTO office actions and addressing issues that may arise during examination of their applications.
Services include:
- Review and analysis of USPTO office actions
- Preparation and filing of office action responses
- Guidance on application requirements and potential obstacles to registration
Trademark Monitoring & Protection
Safeguard Your Brand Through Active Trademark Monitoring.
Protecting a trademark extends beyond registration. We help clients monitor the trademark landscape for potentially conflicting marks and identify matters that may warrant further attention to help safeguard their brand identity.
Services include:
- Trademark monitoring
- Identification of potentially conflicting trademark applications
- Guidance on potential trademark conflicts and enforcement options
Trademark Maintenance & Portfolio Management
Protect Your Brand for the Long Term.
Trademark rights require ongoing attention. We help clients maintain their registrations, manage trademark portfolios, and keep important deadlines and filing obligations on their radar as their businesses and brands evolve.
Services include:
- Trademark maintenance and renewal filings
- Portfolio audits and reviews
- Trademark portfolio management
- Monitoring of maintenance deadlines and filing requirements
Advertising, Influencer & Digital Media Law
Protect your brand and marketing activities with practical legal guidance for today’s digital marketplace. UTILITY LLC helps businesses, creators, and brands navigate advertising, endorsements, influencer partnerships, and social media content to support compliant and effective marketing strategies.
Services include:
- Endorsement & Influencer Agreements: Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating agreements for brand partnerships, sponsored content, and promotional campaigns.
- Social Media Agreements: Reviewing and drafting agreements addressing content creation, and usage rights.
- Advertising & Marketing Review: Reviewing advertising copy, promotional materials, marketing campaigns, and digital content for potential legal and regulatory concerns.
Trademark Law Lawyer
About UTILITY LLC
We are a boutique law firm focused on helping businesses, entrepreneurs, and growing brands protect the names, logos, slogans, and brand assets that define their identity in the marketplace.
From trademark selection and clearance to registration, portfolio management, enforcement, and brand protection strategy, we provide practical legal guidance tailored to each client’s business goals. We understand that trademarks are more than legal assets — they are the foundation of brand recognition, consumer trust, and long-term business value.
Whether you are launching a new brand, expanding your trademark portfolio, or addressing infringement concerns, we are committed to delivering responsive legal counsel, strategic insight, and trusted advocacy.
Trademark Law Legal Team
Meet the team
We are passionate about helping businesses and entrepreneurs protect the brands they work hard to build. Our goals include building lasting relationships with our clients and serving as a trusted partner in protecting their trademarks.
Nicole J. Dobynes
Founder & Principal Attorney
Nicole is a trademark attorney with more than a decade of experience advising businesses on protecting, strengthening, and strategically growing their brands. She advises clients on trademark clearance, registration, enforcement and licensing with a practical, business-focused approach. With experience in both private practice and in-house brand support, Nicole provides thoughtful legal guidance tailored to the needs of entrepreneurs, emerging businesses, and established companies. She earned her B.A. from Howard University and her J.D., cum laude, from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.
Get in touch with
UTILITY LLC
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(312) 216-0373
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2501 Chatham Rd #5380
Springfield, IL 62704