Finally after about a year I’ve gotten the phrase “Prairie Madness” trade marked.  A trade mark is an entirely different beast than copyright.  As soon as you create something it’s copyright protected.  You gain extra protection by registering it with the copyright office.  This doesn’t require anything special.  But getting something trade marked is something you apply for and can be rejected if it doesn’t meet requirements.  The process is complicated and in the end I succumbed to one of the multiple inducements from lawyers to get their help.  It cost me a flat $125 to get my application on the straight and narrow.  So now I’m free to make all the mouse pads, T shirts I want with this logo - tell me what size you want.