When Motivity was just beginning, one of the key tasks was to choose a name. While it seems like a simple task, a lot of thought and research needs to go into choosing the right name for your product or company. We explored a lot of name options before finally deciding on Motivity. We also ensured that no other ABA software product had that name, and we took steps to obtaining a copyright (or we chose not to copyright the name).
Motivity isn’t the only company to put all this work into something as simple as a name. And when you put a lot of work into something, you need to make sure it’s protected! Case in point, in July of 2021, the BACB® added this little blurb to its newsletter:
A quick scan of social media in behavior analyst groups might show a lot of chatter about this notification, with some saying that they wish the BACB® would focus on more important issues. But protecting their name and trademarks is very important! And not just to the BACB®, but also to you as a BCBA.
Ever wonder why we put the little “circle R” or “TM” next to a name? And what is the difference? The “circle R” means that a name has been registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office. “TM” actually doesn’t have a legal meaning and people who own a name are free to use “TM” to show that they plan to register the mark (and the Patent Office will take notice of this declared intent). Some organizations might use a small “SM” denoting a service mark. Trademarks are for products and Service Marks are for services.
Just as the Patent Office takes notice of intent to register, it also recognizes an organizations’ attempts to safeguard their names and products as the BACB® did in July. What could happen if they did not do this? Just ask the initial creators of the escalator (the Otis Company). Escalator used to be a registered name of a specific conveyor device, but due to negligence on behalf of Otis, the word “escalator” became a household name and ultimately Otis lost the ability to apply that name to their specific product. For more details on how this can happen to products, see this Business Insider article: https://www.businessinsider.com/google-taser-xerox-brand-names-generic-words-2018-5
What would happen if the BACB® lost control of BCBA or BCaBA? How would we feel if anyone could call themselves a BCBA? What would that do to consumer confidence in our profession? These are just some concerns to remember when you want to print BCBA on your next t-shirt or hat.
You Gotta Fight for Your Right… to Advocate for Behavior Analysis.
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Director of Clinical Support
Tatum has over a decade of clinical experience as a behavior analyst. She was formerly the director of a treatment center, and was in charge of implementing clinical solutions using a variety of our competitors’ software systems. She joined Motivity as a support consultant last year, and has quickly taken the lead in managing our support and services activities. She is the go-to person for challenging customer issues, and has earned the gratitude and affection of our clients and our support engineers alike, with her skillful approach to problem solving and her steadfast commitment to customer satisfaction.
Director of Clinical Support
Tatum has over a decade of clinical experience as a behavior analyst. She was formerly the director of a treatment center, and was in charge of implementing clinical solutions using a variety of our competitors’ software systems. She joined Motivity as a support consultant last year, and has quickly taken the lead in managing our support and services activities. She is the go-to person for challenging customer issues, and has earned the gratitude and affection of our clients and our support engineers alike, with her skillful approach to problem solving and her steadfast commitment to customer satisfaction.
Director of Sales and Client Services
Brent has led teams driving revenue growth and operational efficiencies in a variety of organizations and global markets. Prior roles include sales, marketing, and general management in the Healthcare IT market. Joining the Motivity team in 2021, Brent is responsible for revenue, client satisfaction and partner relationships. Brent has worked in areas of workflow design and operational efficiencies achieved through the use of technology. He has lived and worked in Lithuania, France, and the United States after his formal education in Economics from the University of Illinois.
Director of Sales and Client Services
Brent has led teams driving revenue growth and operational efficiencies in a variety of organizations and global markets. Prior roles include sales, marketing, and general management in the Healthcare IT market. Joining the Motivity team in 2021, Brent is responsible for revenue, client satisfaction and partner relationships. Brent has worked in areas of workflow design and operational efficiencies achieved through the use of technology. He has lived and worked in Lithuania, France, and the United States after his formal education in Economics from the University of Illinois.
Director of Product Marketing
Brian is an ABA industry expert with an extensive background working for and building some of the original software in the ABA market. His lengthy entrepreneurial background, paired with both a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree in graphic design, Brian’s strengths come from having a deep understanding of user experience, user workflows, branding, and software and product design.
Director of Product Marketing
Brian is an ABA industry expert with an extensive background working for and building some of the original software in the ABA market. His lengthy entrepreneurial background, paired with both a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree in graphic design, Brian’s strengths come from having a deep understanding of user experience, user workflows, branding, and software and product design.
President
Dr. Jakobovits is an experienced business leader who has a long career in clinical software. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Sciences from the University of Washington, then built a successful start up, Vivialog Technologies, which he sold to McKesson in 2008. He served as a Vice President at McKesson for 5 years before leaving to launch Motivity Systems. He is widely published in computer science and informatics journals, and has been awarded several patents. He has raised over $13M in seed capital for his startups through NIH Small Business Innovative Research grants. He is a Research Affiliate with the University of Washington Autism Center.
President
Dr. Jakobovits is an experienced business leader who has a long career in clinical software. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Sciences from the University of Washington, then built a successful start up, Vivialog Technologies, which he sold to McKesson in 2008. He served as a Vice President at McKesson for 5 years before leaving to launch Motivity Systems. He is widely published in computer science and informatics journals, and has been awarded several patents. He has raised over $13M in seed capital for his startups through NIH Small Business Innovative Research grants. He is a Research Affiliate with the University of Washington Autism Center.
VP of Clinical Products
Emaley McCulloch co-founded Autism Training Solutions (ATS), an online learning company, in 2010 which has trained hundreds of thousands of professionals and parents around the globe in evidence-based autism interventions. ATS was acquired by Relias in 2014 and after serving as the VP of Research for 5 years, is currently the Vice President of Clinical Products at Motivity Systems. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and holds an MA in Special Education. She has over 20 years’ experience in the field of autism and ABA and has provided and overseen services to hundreds of individuals between the ages of 18 months to 24 years in homes, schools and clinical settings. For eight years she served as a consultant and Clinical Supervisor at agencies based in Hawaii and Japan where she trained groups of professionals and parents.
VP of Clinical Products
Emaley McCulloch co-founded Autism Training Solutions (ATS), an online learning company, in 2010 which has trained hundreds of thousands of professionals and parents around the globe in evidence-based autism interventions. ATS was acquired by Relias in 2014 and after serving as the VP of Research for 5 years, is currently the Vice President of Clinical Products at Motivity Systems. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and holds an MA in Special Education. She has over 20 years’ experience in the field of autism and ABA and has provided and overseen services to hundreds of individuals between the ages of 18 months to 24 years in homes, schools and clinical settings. For eight years she served as a consultant and Clinical Supervisor at agencies based in Hawaii and Japan where she trained groups of professionals and parents.
Chief Technology Officer
As Motivity’s CTO and Chief Software Architect, Catalin is the core designer and implementer of Motivity’s architecture and user experience. His industry experience spans more than 20 years, across a multitude of domains. He has 10 patents on diverse applications such as data encoding, user interaction, and latency compensation. Prior to joining Motivity, Catalin was a chief architect of McKesson Corporation’s market-leading, large scale radiology systems. His extensive expertise and diverse background have allowed him to take a unique approach to designing Motivity’s cutting-edge knowledge modeling capabilities.
Chief Technology Officer
As Motivity’s CTO and Chief Software Architect, Catalin is the core designer and implementer of Motivity’s architecture and user experience. His industry experience spans more than 20 years, across a multitude of domains. He has 10 patents on diverse applications such as data encoding, user interaction, and latency compensation. Prior to joining Motivity, Catalin was a chief architect of McKesson Corporation’s market-leading, large scale radiology systems. His extensive expertise and diverse background have allowed him to take a unique approach to designing Motivity’s cutting-edge knowledge modeling capabilities.
