Negosentro| 4 Reasons to Consider Trademarking Your Business Name |A trademark helps to establish a unique identity so that your business can protect its brands. If your company’s name, product names or visual presence is an important part of your communication with customers, you should consider trademarking them.
1. Establish Your Unique Brand
A trademark can be a phrase, symbol or image that defines a company’s identity, according to an Idaho trademark attorney. It helps customers recognize your business, remember its name or look and distinguish it among your competitors’ offerings. The more distinctive your identity is, the easier it is to trademark and protect it.
There are several considerations for establishing a trademark. A crucial factor is a trademark search to make sure no other company has a similar mark in the same line of business or region of operation. Without a proper search, a company risks some major costs and potential setbacks if another company challenges the trademark. Another crucial decision is whether to seek trademark protection at the state, national, or international level. While state applications are typically less expensive and take less time, they only apply to a single state and offer less protection. International trademarking is a complex area to navigate. Your company also has to show that it’s actively using the mark or be able to prove intent for using it. Because of the complexity of trademark searching and registration, many companies turn to trademark and intellectual property attorneys for assistance.
2. Reduce the Potential for Legal Challenges
Researching and getting a trademark registered can help reduce the risk that another company will successfully challenge your identity. If you choose a name or mark that’s too close to another company in your market, you run the risk of an infringement challenge that could wreak havoc on your brand. Even if the coast seems clear now in your specific line of business or region, a competitor might add overlapping products or your business might grow over time.
If your names or marks are successfully challenged, you might have to change them on products, packaging, labels, web sites, marketing collateral and other materials as well as spend money on legal costs. It also risks wiping out the investment you’ve made to establish a customer following based on your brand, and you’d need to make sure customers can find your goods or services under your new identity.
3. Help Verify Your Brand’s Unique Identity
Getting a trademark registered can help you verify the uniqueness of your brand. Some companies will use an unregistered or common law trademark, essentially by adding a TM to their name or mark, often while they are waiting for their registered trademark to be approved. If your company applies for trademark registration with your state patent office or the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the government office will help verify that your trademark is unique in that legal jurisdiction.
Because the application approval process can be lengthy, it’s important to conduct a clearance search before submitting your trademarking application. If the patent office finds a similar brand, then it will deny your application, which can send you back to the starting line and eat up a significant chunk of time.
4. Protect your Brand
A trademark gives your business some legal leverage to fight for its identity if another company infringes upon it. For example, another company might choose a name or logo that’s similar enough that it confuses customers or even weakens your company’s reputation. The strategy depends on the circumstances, but some companies or their lawyers will send a demand letter, such as a cease-and-desist letter, to the trademark infringer. Companies can take stronger action by filing a lawsuit. Once you establish a trademark, it’s important that you or your legal counsel maintain its rights by looking for and following up on infringement.
Researching and establishing a trademark can be an involved but worthwhile process for your brand. The trademark process helps to verify if your identity is unique and provides some tools to help stop trademark infringement.
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