What is a Trademark?
A trademark is something that represents your brand and distinguishes your products or services from your competitors’ products or services.
The most common examples include your company name, a product name, logo, and even some slogans. Less obvious examples include colors (here’s a roundup of some you might recognize), distinctive designs (like the iconic Coca-Cola bottle shape), or even sounds (think Law & Order or Darth Vader).
The key is that a trademark identifies the source of particular goods and services in the marketplace.
When you see “Just Do It” or the famous swoosh logo on an item of clothing, you automatically think of Nike. The slogan and logo identify the source of the clothing and distinguish the Just Do It joggers from all the other joggers on the rack.
Wondering how to come up with a great trademark for your brand? Check out this blog post.
Wondering how to protect your trademark? Keep reading.
How Do I Protect My Trademark?
Get it registered with the USPTO. Registration is not required to use your trademark, but provides lots of benefits to help you develop and maintain a stronger brand.
Getting your trademark registered with the USPTO is how you stake your flag, so to speak. Registration helps to increase your brand value and provides you with some tools to defend against infringement by others.
Here are some of the benefits to getting your mark registered:
Registration helps you maintain the exclusivity of your mark, because others will be deterred from trying to use or register confusingly similar marks. Exclusivity increases the notoriety and value of your brand, and helps prevent consumer confusion with your competitors’ goods or services.
Registration allows you to enforce your rights in federal court. In other words, it gives you a stronger basis to defend your brand against others who might infringe on your mark. Similarly, registration provides solid evidence to support your rights if you receive an unjustified cease and desist letter from someone contending you’re infringing on their mark.
If you sell goods, you can record your registered trademark with US Customers to stop the importation of counterfeit goods.
Registration helps you develop a path to make money off of your brand (think licensing deals).
Lastly, registration reduces the risk that you’ll have to deal with a dreaded rebrand in the future.
The trademark registration process is not rocket science, but it’s not exactly intuitive either. You’ll have the best chance of getting your mark registered if you get a clearance search done by an attorney (the critical first step), and get your attorney to prepare and submit your application.
Need help protecting your trademark? Drop us a message!
*This blog provides general information for educational purposes only. It is not intended to constitute specific legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.*