Today we’d like to introduce you to Nadine Bedwan.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve always known that I wanted to combine my legal practice with artistry and creativity. I was drawn to intellectual property on both an intellectual and philosophical level—the idea that you can own and protect your ideas fascinated me. When I studied trademark law in law school, I knew this was the area I wanted to practice.
After graduating, I worked at a civil litigation firm for over a year, but I hated it. That experience pushed me to continue learning and practicing filing trademarks for friends and contacts while I immersed myself in IP, fashion, and art law through articles, podcasts, and following people in that world.
Once I felt ready, I took the leap and founded Citrine Trademark Services. My goal is to help creatives and entrepreneurs, especially in the fashion world, protect their brands so they can grow their presence and share their work with the world without worrying about their brand getting ripped off or copied.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The transition from working a steady law firm job to starting a business is a huge adjustment in itself. The biggest thing is realizing that I am totally self-reliant. The success of my business falls entirely on me. There’s freedom in that, but also a lot of pressure. So much of the work has been internal, learning to regulate my nervous system and feel safe even in the midst of uncertainty.
Another adjustment, and I think this is the case for all businesses at the beginning, is that the work I’m passionate about and that I built my business around, trademark law, now makes up a relatively small percentage of everything I do. The rest of my time is devoted to running the actual business: creating systems, optimizing workflows, and marketing. All of these have their own learning curve.
Working at a firm, clients are assigned to you and you just handle the substantive work. When running your own business, you have to really put yourself out there and proactively generate leads. As a lawyer, this was outside my comfort zone and is still something I’m getting used to. Still, I love every part of it. Even the things I struggle with facilitate so much transformation and growth on a personal level.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Citrine Trademark Services provides trademark consulting and filing for fashion designers and entrepreneurs. I help clients assess the strength of their brand names, logos, and other protectable brand elements, file trademark applications for them, and make sure their trademarks get registered. My focus is on protecting the creative visions of my clients and ensuring they can build their brands with confidence and security.
What sets me apart is that I see myself as part of the community I serve. I also make clothes (on a much smaller scale than my clients, but still!) and I view myself as their peer in a lot of ways. Lawyers in the art world are often perceived as outsiders who limit creativity with legal constraints. I take the opposite approach—I see legal protection as a tool to safeguard and empower creative expression to broaden its reach.
I’m most proud of having very hands-on, personalized service. As the sole attorney at my firm, I stay deeply involved in every case and naturally go the extra mile because I’m passionate about my clients’ work.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Empowering designers to launch and grow their brand with full confidence and security is what matters most to me. A lot of time this starts with educating my audience via my social media platforms, webinars, or podcast appearances on why trademarks are so crucial for their brands. From there, I work with my clients to create a strategy to comprehensively protect their brand, since most brands have more than one protectable element.
I love seeing the moment when my clients’ mindsets shift from uncertainty and trepidation around the legal process to full confidence that they are protected and can’t be messed with. It’s the mindset from just existing as a brand to operating as a business. By protecting their work and treating it as a business, designers avoid burning out and can create from a place of security. They are better positioned to thrive personally, creatively, and professionally. I provide the legal protection that allows designers to share their visions without fear of being copied or exploited.
Pricing:
- For more information on services and pricing visit https://citrinetms.com/services
Contact Info:
- Website: https://citrinetms.com
- Instagram: citrinetrademarkservices
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/citrine-trademark-services
- Other: Tiktok: citrinetrademarkservices
