Trademarking 101

It seems like a lot of work to trademark a business or a product, doesn’t it?  For many people it can be somewhat of a challenge.  For others, especially large companies, the process is simply handed over to their attorneys to go through. 

Even though it may take some time to develop the perfect trademark and to put it in place, the benefits of having one are quite amazing.  In fact, an effective trademark can actually stand out as its own advertisement for your business!

Just think of those arches.  Think about the Wendy’s girl.  You can even picture your favorite Staples logo, can’t you?  Just seeing those symbols triggers an instant thought about visiting those locations.  You don’t have to be hungry and you definitely don’t have to need staples and pens to want to visit those locations.

In effect, you want to create this same type of trademark for your business so that you can benefit from increased advertisement and name recognition just through your trademark.

There are additional benefits to registering your trademark too.  Remember this isn’t just about creating a great logo, but registering it!  The benefits of registering your trademark are many.  Here are just a few of the reasons why you can’t forget this step.

It Provides Protection

When you register a trademark, you get protections that come with it.  For example, consider these benefits to registering your trademark for its protection benefits that you’ll get:

• You get to protect the company’s name and logo.  That’s your most valuable asset when it comes to your business.
• You will get the ability to use that trademark around the country as the owner of it.  Nationwide ownership is yours when you register the trademark.
• When you register your trademark, you also help to protect yourself.  If someone or another company says that you are using a trademark in some way that infringes on their trademark, they are less likely to be successful in suing you for it if you have it registered federally.
• In the same boat, if a company comes along with developing another trademark that is just like yours or is similar to yours they can not do this, or at least they can not register it.  Once the trademark is registered to you, it is yours.  They also can’t claim that they didn’t know because it is registered.
• In addition to this, a foreign registration provides the same protection.  When you register in the United States, you will have more opportunity and a good basis for registering the trademark on an international level as well.

When you register a trademark, you are given the future rights to that mark and also to make the mark “incontestable” which is evidence that makes the mark valid.  It provides you and only you with the legal and exclusive right to that mark.

As you can see, there are several protections that come from registering your trademark.  The process is not that difficult and this benefit along is enough to push anyone over the edge of not doing so.

Deterring Others

Another benefit to having your trademark registered is that others will not be able to use your trademark.  It is a determent to use it even so. 

You will be able to have a small “tm” placed after your logo or design to signify that this is your trademark and that others can not use it. 

One claim that many try to use is that of an innocent, “I didn’t know” defense.  When a “tm” is placed after your mark, though, this is impossible for anyone to use as a defense to using your mark.

When someone designs and tries to register your trademark (or one that is similar to yours) he or she will need to perform a search.  When this happens, if you have registered your trademark your trademark will appear there and will help to discourage them from using it.  It helps to keep them from registering something that is similar to your own as well.

In addition to this, as another determent, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will also not allow anyone to register a trademark that is yours or is very similar to yours.  If they determine that the trademark would be confusing or that it is too similar to your own, then they will not allow it to be registered therefore deterring others from trying to claim it as their own.

You Get Great Recourse

Although providing for protection and for deterrence are some of the best things that you’ll get for registering your trademark, there is more that you’ll gain, too.  That comes in the way of recourse should anyone actually try to use your trademark for their own benefit.  Here are some of those methods available to you.

• When you register your trademark federally, you have the right to actually get back some three times the damage and fees of your lawyer from the person or company that used your trademark.
• With that comes the protection that since you hold the trademark registration that your claim is valid therefore allowing for no confusion about who should benefit from that trademark.
• If there is a company or person that comes along that tries to use your trademark for their internet domain name or otherwise, you have the legal right to it and therefore have additional abilities to benefit from a dispute should you file one. 
• In that, you have the automatic right to sue someone that has used and/or profited from your trademark and you will do this in a federal court.

With these three elements, protection, deterrence and legal recourse, there is no reason not to register your trademark for your own business. 

Having a trademark is one of the best things that you can do for your business.  In addition to these things, remember these two fundamental reasons why you simply must register your trademark.

You Won’t Be Sued

By having and registering your trademark, you prevent yourself from being sued.  This is the best reason for you to obtain that trademark.  To obtain your trademark, a thorough search must be done.  That means that ultimately you will have searched to insure your trademark does not infringe on anyone else’s. 

This protects you from being sued down the line.  Even if someone were to claim that their trademark was around before yours, since your trademark has been registered, it holds more ground. 

This protection is unlike virtually any other.  Since there is so much competition, especially in internet sales, the protection that a registered trademark has is something you don’t want to do without.

Strong Brand

As we mentioned, having a good trademark sets you about.  In keeping with our example, how many no name restaurants are out there that have no trademark that you know of?  Perhaps you can’t recall any right now? 

Having a good, strong brand name creates for you a marketing basis that ends up setting you apart from the other guy, something that is vitally important in the business world, especially in the day and age of the internet.

The internet is very competitive and it continues to increase in this manner, too.  That means that consumers have plenty of choices.  There is no guarantee that they will remember who they bought from unless something strikes them or jogs their memory.  One of the best tools for doing that is a trademark.

Now that you understand the benefits of having a trademark, is there any reason you don’t know why you should have one?

For most businesses, the hardest part of having a trademark is to not know how to get one.  Although there are some complicated parts to the process, there is help out there. 

One of the best tools that you have, in fact, is the internet which is full of excellent resources and services offered by various providers that can help you to perform trademark searches and even do the entire trademarking process for you.

Before you begin to look into them, take the time to understand a bit more about the process and the reasoning behind a trademark.  As you will see there are many ways that you can benefit from this process.  Now, learn how to make it even more enticing for your needs.

Your business needs a trademark.  So, what’s the next or first step?