Trademark Instructions Form added to blog

I’ve been learning more about Google Docs and their use, both in business and for personal matters. I’ve put up a form that can be used to initiate a request to help you get a trademark application filed in Canada, the US, or elsewhere.

If you try this on your own website, be aware that I had to choose a form theme that had borders that fit within the width of the particular column on the page. If your form theme is too wide, it won’t display properly.

There are WordPress plug-ins that allow forms to be inserted in WordPress blogs. I could have used one of those. I went the Google Docs form mostly because it was new and shiny — to me, at least.

When the form is submitted, it puts the information into a spreadsheet at Google Docs. In other words, a flat file database. In the spreadsheet, under “tools”, you can turn on a notification option to have Google e-mail you if someone submits the form (or other specified events happen). The e-mail notification is provided by way of a daily summary or when the event happens.

For someone whose first online experience was through a small LED screen off a laptop, using a 300 baud modem to connect to Compuserve, this stuff is amazing.