Author Archives: Rusty Rueff

About Rusty Rueff

Rusty Rueff, author of purposed worKING. Rusty Rueff is the former Chairman Emeritus of The GRAMMY Foundation in Los Angeles. He most recently completed the successful 16 month leadership role as Coordinating National Co-Chair for Technology for Obama (T4O) for the reelection of President Obama and ten-years of Board service and President of the Board of Trustees of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Corporately, most recently Rueff was the Chief Executive Officer at SNOCAP, Inc. until the acquisition of the company by imeem, Inc. in April 2008. Before joining SNOCAP in 2005, he was Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Electronic Arts (EA) from 1998 until 2005. He was also with the PepsiCo companies for more than ten years, with the Pratt & Whitney division of United Technologies for two years, and in commercial radio as an on-air personality for six years. Rusty holds an M.S. in counseling and a B.A. in radio and television from Purdue University. In 2003 he was named a distinguished Purdue alumnus, and he and his wife, Patti, are the named benefactors of Purdue’s Patti and Rusty Rueff School of Visual and Performing Arts. He is a corporate director of Glassdoor.com and runcoach. He is the co-founder and Executive Committee Member of T4A.org, serves on the Founding Circle of The Centrist Project and a founding Board Member of The GRAMMY Music Education Coalition. He is also the co-author of the book Talent Force: A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business. Rusty and his wife, Patti, reside in Hillsborough, CA and Charlestown, R.I.

day 897: Trademarks

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“In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”

I am working with a couple of start-ups now that are releasing new products into the market and invariably, the topic of trademarking has come up.  It does each and every time someone releases something new.  I’m a believer that trademarks are important to pursue, obtain and defend.  If for no other reason, it is the company’s identity and a point of pride to have a trademark that can built upon and marketed with the hope of reaching and becoming a household moniker/name.  Getting a trademark is hard but keeping it is just as hard.  You have to use it and stay consistent in its’ use to be able to claim and defend it in the future.  Look no further than companies like Xerox and Kleenex who had their trademark become generic because they didn’t protect the use and defend their marks. My advice is always to find a mark that can truly become yours and then build walls around it for your own use and be sure to treat it as purely and proudly as you would your own personal name.

John gives us interchangeable trademarks for God when he tells us that the Word and God are synonymous.  What a glorious mark God has given us to use with knowing that the Word is God.  Knowing this, it is our responsibility as the keepers and advancers of God’s Kingdom on earth to use the Word as God expects and to keep the mark alive for others.  The only way we can do this is to be inside of God’s Word and to get to know it like we were getting to know God, which when we read, study, memorize, speak and do God’s Word, we are.  How much time are taking out of each day to build up,  protect and advance God’s trademark in our own lives and in the lives of others?

Reference: John 1:1 (King James Version)