I retained an attorney to protect my sticker savings challenges and here is why

I heard on a podcast that starting a business is like throwing yourself out of a plane and building a parachute on the way down. Here’s the start of my parachuting journey.

Short version:
My name is Liz. I have never had a desire to start a business. I am not entrepreneurial.

In 2015 I created a promotion for a small business franchise where I was an employee. A fellow franchise in the city copied my exact idea, made it worse, and I had no recourse as I was an employee.  I’m no longer bitter, but I have high praise for original concepts, not copycat ideas. 

On February 21, 2023, as a joke to make a friend laugh, I made a sticker savings challenge using my awful sense of humour about sausages... which over time led into more sticker savings challenges about wieners, nuts, and thirsty beavers. People loved them.

While I knew of at least two budgeters in the community that sold stickers in a pick-and-save way, my stickers evolved. My style changed. I became very passionate about original ideas and concepts, layouts, and designs of my sticker savings challenges. God is now laughing at me for making plans. 

(Nb. I am not the inventor of a sticker. I am not the inventor nor original creator of a sticker savings challenge.)

But, I’ve sort of made a name for myself making sticker savings challenges. This week I retained an attorney to establish a trademark and protect my intellectual property of sticker savings challenges, and part of this is sending cease and desist letters to individuals who copy my ideas, designs, layout, or are otherwise creating things “inspired” by me and offer them for sale as sticker savings challenges. 

This is not something I want or ever thought I would need to do. I'm not one to seek confrontations; my intention is solely to safeguard my creations.

Here’s the longer story.

Next to moving to another country to marry an internet stranger, creating sticker savings challenges and running an Etsy store is the most unplanned thing I’ve done in my life.

I’ve experienced beautiful growth with my sticker savings challenges and learned a lot over the last few months. I’m making mistakes daily, but learning and growing from them. To this, I feel like I’m at the beginning point of growth where I have to protect what I’m doing.

Here is why.

In the Etsy world, there are a lot of copycats. 

This is not just isolated to the budgeting community, but applies to Etsy at large, but if you want specifics: binders, cut outs, digital savings challenges, physical savings challenges, scratch off savings challenges, 100 envelope boxes, children’s books turned into binders, budgeting sheets, games, spinners.

What follows after quick success of an original idea and concept is a world of copying.

Let’s stop saying, “I was inspired by…”

It is copying.

Combining items from two different savings challenges to make your own is still copying.

If I look at my sticker savings challenges for sale in my store right now, I can point out three components in all the items that are from commercially licensed images. Everything else is original.

So, here I am. I’m now the crazy person who had to retain a trademark and branding attorney to protect my original concepts, layouts, and designs. I am not referring to the three stores and ten sticker savings challenges that are listed online by other creators: those items are now protected by common law. 

This is for future creators: do not copy my ideas, layout, spacing, etc. Do not be “inspired” by me. The cease and desist will ask people to immediately stop the sale, delete and destroy all inventory, and provide me with full accounting and a list of proceeds from any and all sales.

“But Liz, I want to make stickers, too.”

You can make stickers and use them in your budgeting videos. I can’t do anything about that. However, you cannot sell them if they look like mine. 

You can buy stickers from the Dollar Store and use them on savings challenge trackers.  You can make an entire sheet of stickers. You can do whatever you wish with stickers that does not look like mine. 

The rule of thumb in the legal world about intellectual property is it has to be more than 51 percent different and cannot be something that is already licensed or trademarked. 

Finally, a warning if you use unlicensed work or the work of someone else’s intellectual property.

In early August 2023, over 800 Etsy stores were hit with cease and desist letters because of the unlicensed use of the “Smiley Face”. It is a registered trademark across 100 different countries and stores were shut down or had their listings removed. Store owners had to seek their own legal counsel to resolve the issue, pay remuneration for sold items, and some are still struggling to get their stores back online. 

If you use non-licensed material on Etsy, I implore you to reconsider. Just because one person does it, does not mean it is okay. Please prepare yourself for the day that you are sent a cease and desist and, as outlined in mine above, you will also have to provide accurate accounting for all your sales and may have to pay that back to the original copyright/trademark holder.

I’m asking the budgeting community to be creative.

Think independently and differently.

I have a rule with my close friends in the community: I don't create things they create. I won't sell binders, scratch offs, or cut outs. I won't sell laminated envelopes, or vinyl envelopes, or games. My sole focus is stickers.

Please keep in mind the 51 percent rule when designing anything. This is not only to protect my interests but also to safeguard your ideas and income.

Disclaimer: I am not an attorney, none of this is legal advice. I am also not a financial advisor. None of this is financial advice.